Terminator 6 going full girl power for new sequel

For five films we’ve been focusing on Arnold’s muscles and with saving John Connor, but the Terminator franchise seems to be taking a new direction that’s all about the women

The original Terminator introduced us to Sarah Connor, a cute ragamuffin-turned-soldier that would give birth to the world’s savior. Sarah was revolutionary for her time, being a badass and all, but viewers have since revisited her story and some are now calling it sexist. She has no say in the matter and is only important because she gives birth to a man who will save the world and later dies off-screen so her son John can blow stuff up in Rise of the Machines and Salvation without waiting for mom’s permission. In each Terminator film showcasing Sarah I think it’s quite obvious that John is a mamma’s boy and she could have saved the world a lot better if she was allowed to (No offense John, I love you).

The series is an action franchise and action usually means guns held by some big guns and who has bigger guns than the Schwarzenegger? Ever since the explosive gift to humanity that was Judgement Day, the franchise has been barely keeping afloat with each sequel putting them in deeper in the water.

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They’ve tried everything to bring it back to its former glory, they’ve brought Sarah back, Arnold back, redid the timeline, made more indestructible Terminators, made a female Terminator, gave John a wife, brought back Kyle Reese (twice), made a robot/man hybrid, but none of it worked. Terminator: Genisys was supposed to be a reboot, setting up a new story to milk another six movies out of. In what felt like an attempt to combine Terminator 1, 2 and 4, Genisys was a disaster that almost killed the franchise. Guess two Schwarzenegger’s for the price of one wasn’t the answer.

All hope was lost until a light bulb popped up above Paramount Pictures’ head; what if they brought back James Cameron and made a sequel to Judgement Day? Might not sound like the best idea, but you knows. The still-untitled Terminator movie will ignore the previous three films taking place after Judgement Day and has promised not to use time travel to fix their problem like Genisys did.

Cameron may promise to fix the timeline but let’s not forget that back in 2015 he praised Genisys, going as far as calling it the “third Terminator film.” Now he’s taken back the comment according to Outer Places, pushed Genisys in the stack of other forgettable android movies and is going to make the real third Terminator film.

"“This is a continuation of the story from Terminator 1 and Terminator 2. And we’re pretending the other films were a bad dream. Or an alternate timeline, which is permissible in our multi-verse. This was really driven more by [Tim] than anybody, surprisingly, because I came in pretty agnostic about where we took it. The only thing I insisted on was that we somehow revamp it and reinvent it for the 21st century.”"

Girl Power

Female-led movies are on the rise and Terminator is embracing the movement. Not once in all the years of the franchise was there ever a promoting picture that didn’t have Schwarzenegger or one of the John Connors on the front. Even in the original two when Sarah was doing a lot of heavy lifting, the T-800 remained the front-runner.

This is where Terminator 6 has already diverted away from its predecessors. Schwarzenegger is in the movie and is already filming his scenes but no one seems to take much notice. John Connor is also making a return as the fan-favorite Edward Furlong version through the use of a body double and CGI facial replication. However, the internet appears to be more excited about the return of Linda Hamilton and with the introduction of new female soldiers she can bond with. Beside Hamilton is Natalia Reyes as a woman named Dani Ramos and Mackenzie Davis as the soldier-assassin known only as Grace.

Though Hamilton is back, it’s been said that Davis is the new leading role for the franchise, which makes sense considering she’s front and center in the picture. The actress showed her acting chops in Blade Runner: 2049, another android movie, but she’s still relatively unknown. It seems like Hamilton may be handing over the reigns to Davis, as Sarah will probably do for Grace in the movie.

I know it’s going to ignore the previous sequels, but in Rise of the Machines, John said that his mother died from cancer in 1997. Judgement Day is set in 1991, 6 years before Sarah dies which is what sends John off the rails in Rise of the Machines and turns him into a whining cry-baby. Maybe Terminator 6 will continue with Sarah’s terminal illness storyline but have Davis’s warrior woman serve as a mentor for John after she dies.

You know how Arnold has gotten into the habit of saying “I’m back” in almost all of his movies now? Well, I fully expect Linda Hamilton to be the one to walk on screen and say “I’m back” this time. I’d much rather hear it from her.

The film is set for a November 22, 2019 release date but time could change that, it seems to be moving along pretty quickly. Even if this new Terminator is a bust, I think we’re all happy to see Hamilton back in action, she’s Cameron’s good luck charm.