Terminator Franchise: Origins and Evolutions

A look at the history of the Terminator franchise

This week, the Terminator franchise is back in theaters with Terminator Genisys, the fifth movie in the long-running series that dates back to 1984.

The original Terminator movie transformed Arnold Schwarzenegger into a box office sensation and it made James Cameron into one of the most successful directors of all time. But in the beginning, neither Schwarzenegger nor Cameron could have predicted that multiple Terminator sequels were on the horizon.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day proved to be the turning point for the franchise, and it has continued in film, comics, and even a TV series over the last 31 years. There may even be more Terminator films and television shows on the way, depending upon how well Terminator Genisys is received.

In Terminator Genisys, Schwarzenegger is once again playing the T-800 series Terminator that made him famous alongside a new cast that includes Emilia Clarke as Sarah Connor, Jason Clarke as John Connor, Jai Courtney as Kyle Reese, J. K. Simmons as Detective O’Brien, Dayo Okeniyi as Danny Dyson, and Courtney B. Vance as Miles Dyson, in addition to former Doctor Who star Matt Smith and Lee Byung-hun in roles which we will not spoil here! For the fifth film in the Terminator fanchise, Alan Taylor (Game of Thrones, Thor: The Dark World) served as the director of Terminator Genisys.

To mark the release of Terminator Genisys, ComingSoon.net’s Origins and Evolutions is taking a broad look back at the history of the franchise and some of its most memorable moments. It’s Judgement Day for The Terminator!

Terminator: Origins and Evolutions

Piranha II: The Spawning (1981)

Every story must have a beginning. And James Cameron traces The Terminator back to his directorial debut, Piranha II: The Spawning.

As related by Cameron, he became sick while in Rome during the release Piranha II, and he had a nightmare about a metallic torso pulling itself through an explosion while holding knives.

Instead of forgetting about his dream, Cameron used it as inspiration for his next film. Cameron recruited his friend, Bill Wisher, to help him write the story that became The Terminator.
The Proto-Terminator

Even with a great screenplay, a film still needs to be funded and that can be a whole ugly process of its own.

For The Terminator, Cameron came up with a unique way to pitch the movie to John Daly of Hemdale Pictures. Cameron asked his friend, Lance Henriksen to attend the meeting in character as the Terminator, including fake cuts on his face, gold foil on his teeth and in a leather jacket.

To make an impression, Henriksen showed early and kicked open the door of the office before Cameron arrived and explained the pitch. And it worked, Daly backed the film alongside HBO and Orion pictures.

However, the title role was not ultimately given to Henriksen. Instead, he played Police Sergeant Hal Vukovich in the film, although Cameron later cast him as the android, Bishop, in Aliens.
The Real Killer

While searching for an actor to play the title role in The Terminator, the studio suggested former football player, O. J. Simpson. Although Simpson had made a name for himself as an actor by that point, Cameron reportedly felt that Simpson was not believable as a killer.

Over a decade later, a jury in Los Angeles seemed to agree, when it acquitted Simpson of charges that he murdered his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman.

Leaving the issue of Simpson’s guilt or innocence aside, it’s not likely that the first film would have led to a franchise if “The Juice” was the Terminator. Simpson was just not as charismatic as the eventual choice to fill the role.
The Rise of Arnold

Amazingly, Arnold Schwarzenegger was originally up for the role of Kyle Reese...and James Cameron didn’t want him in the movie!

However, Cameron’s reluctance to cast Schwarzenegger only lasted until they finally met face-to-face. Cameron left the meeting convinced that Schwarzenegger would make a much better Terminator than Kyle Reese.

Schwarzenegger was coming off of the original Conan the Barbarian movie and he hadn’t quite hit it big in Hollywood up to that point. However, Schwarzenegger’s performance as the T-800 in Terminator became his launching pad to superstardom and one of his most iconic roles.
The Terminator (1984)

The Terminator shocked industry observers by opening at number one at the box office.

No one was quite prepared to see Schwarzenegger’s title character as a killer cyborg who was sent back in time from 2029 by the A.I. known as Skynet to kill Sarah Connor, the mother of the human resistance leader, John Connor. To save Sarah’s life, John sent one of his soldiers, Kyle Reese back in time to protect her.

The Terminator was also critically acclaimed, and it elevated the careers of both Schwarzenegger and Cameron. The movie is now widely regarded as a classic, and as one of the best sci-fi action films ever made.
Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese

Linda Hamilton was cast as Sarah Connor, while Michael Biehn was chosen to portray Kyle Reese. the film’s other time traveler from the year 2029. While trying to keep Sarah alive, Kyle fell in love with her and they ultimately consummated their relationship before the final confrontation with the Terminator.

It’s a good thing too, since Kyle turns out to be John Connor’s father...which is a bit of a temporal paradox since John Connor can’t exist unless he sends Kyle Reese back in time to father him. Without the time travel, there would be no John Connor.

Ultimately, it came down to Sarah to terminate the Terminator. But the broken pieces of its body came back to haunt her several years later...
The Terminator (Now Comics)

In 1988, Now Comics brought The Terminator to comic book shelves with a 17-issue series that took place in the future world depicted in the film, with John Connor as the main character. This was the first attempt to make the franchise live on beyond the original Terminator movie.

Now Comics’ Terminator run was also notable for Terminator: The Burning Earth limited series, which featured the first painted comic book work of Alex Ross, an artist who became a comic book icon for his stints on Marvels, Kingdom Come, Justice, Uncle Sam, and numerous covers and paintings.
The Terminator (Dark Horse Comics)

The rights for The Terminator comics jumped to Dark Horse Comics in 1990, with a new storyline called "Tempest" that introduced all-new characters and even more Terminators.

The first few Terminator miniseries had a continuing storyline with a half-human, Terminator hybrid named Dudley, who rebelled against Skynet’s control and sided with the resistance members who traveled back in time.

Dudley even formed a romance with resistance leader, Mary Randall. However, the Terminator implants eventually regained control and Dudley was forced to terminate himself to protect Mary.

The chain of events eventually led to the birth of Jane Connor, whose existence changed the timeline. Jane Connor went on to fulfil the same that John Connor had in humanity’s fight against Skynet.

The comic rights to Terminator have popped up at several companies since the early ‘90s, but Dark Horse has published the most Terminator comics. And Dark Horse has also published the best Terminator comics.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

It took seven years for a Terminator sequel to come together, but when Terminator 2: Judgment Day finally arrived, it was an even bigger hit than its predecessor.

James Cameron returned for what would be his last Terminator movie. This time, Schwarzenegger played a heroic T-800 who was assigned to protect John Connor, and his mother from the shape-shifting T-1000 Terminator.

Like the first movie, Terminator 2 has been hailed as one of the best action films of all time. And in many ways, this film helped pave the way for Hollywood’s love affair with sequels.

Terminator 2 certainly wasn’t the first sequel ever made, but it changed the way that moviegoers perceived sequels. Terminator 2 wasn’t just a movie, it was an event.
The T-1000

Because Schwarzenegger’s Terminator wasn’t the villain this time, Robert Patrick filled the void as the advanced, liquid-metal Terminator known as the T-1000.

CGI was still in its early stages during the early ‘90s, but Terminator 2’s special effects for the T-1000 were groundbreaking for the time.

The T-1000 also became an iconic villain, but not on the same level as Schwarzenegger’s T-800.
John Connor 0.5

It’s easy to forget that Michael Edwards appears in Terminator 2 as the older John Connor in the future war.

Edwards didn’t have any speaking lines in the finished film, but he also appeared in the alternate ending that depicted a future in which Skynet never existed.
John Connor 1.0

Edward Furlong was the first actor to portray John Connor in any meaningful way. Terminator 2 hinges upon Furlong’s chemistry with Schwarzenegger as John bonds with the Terminator.

Under John’s command, the Terminator became more heroic and less prone to fatally shooting humans. Instead, the Terminator deemed shooting kneecaps out as a suitable option.

John’s dialogue in T2 doesn’t exactly hold up 24 years later, but the interaction between John and the Terminator did have some of the best jokes in the movie. And it’s easy to buy into their emotional dynamic.
Sarah Connor Reborn

For the second film in the franchise, Linda Hamilton physically transformed herself into a believable action heroine as Sarah Connor became a warrior in her own right. Sarah is a badass in Terminator 2, and she became an iconic role as well.

The one thing that Sarah apparently wasn’t good at was hiding her knowledge about the Terminators, Skynet, and Judgment Day. Everyone thought she was crazy, even John! At least until two more Terminators arrived in the past.
RoboCop vs. The Terminator (1992)

Dark Horse Comics’ 1992 miniseries, Robocop vs. The Terminator, expertly combined the two different film franchises in a great story.

As written by Frank Miller and illustrated by Walt Simonson, the human resistance of the future identifies RoboCop as a contributing factor to Skynet’s existence. So Skynet sent Terminators back in time to protect RoboCop!

RoboCop eventually ends up in the Terminators’ future and he leads an assault on Skynet using Terminator bodies converted into an army of RoboCops. It’s just a great story by two comic book legends. Dark Horse Comics and BOOM! Studios recently reprinted RoboCop vs. The Terminator after it had fallen out of print for several years. It’s well worth the read.
T2 3-D: Battle Across Time (1996)

Apparently, James Cameron wasn’t quite done with the Terminator franchise. Cameron was initially against the idea of turning Terminator into a theme park attraction, but Universal Studios quickly won him over.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong, and Robert Patrick all returned for T2 3-D: Battle Across Time, which blended live action stage performances with a twelve-minute 3-D film that followed the T-800 and John Connor back to the future for a final showdown with Skynet and the highly-advanced T-1000000.

It’s completely out of continuity with the films, but nobody cares about that. T2 3-D: Battle Across Time is still a popular attraction at Universal Studios Florida, almost twenty years since it was released.
Superman vs. The Terminator: Death to the Future (1999)

Not every crossover is the equal of RoboCop vs. The Terminator. But Superman vs. The Terminator: Death to the Future might win the prize for the most incompatible participants of a crossover!

Writer Alan Grant and artist Steve Pugh came up with a story that finds Sarah and John Connor in Metropolis when the Terminators catch up with them. Superman arrives to save them, and he gets drawn into the future world while Supergirl, Superboy and Lois Lane attempt to keep Sarah and John alive against Terminators who have been upgraded to fight superheroes.

Superman vs. The Terminator is not a complete trainwreck, but it’s also far from the best of both franchises.
Alien versus Predator versus The Terminator (2000)

Speaking of crossovers, Dark Horse really went all-out when it commissioned the Alien versus Predator versus The Terminator miniseries by writer Mark Schultz and artist Mel Rubi.

Dark Horse initially made a name for itself with its Alien and Predator comics, in addition to pairing up those two franchises long before the eventual Aliens vs. Predator movie.

Alien versus Predator versus The Terminator acted as a sequel to all of the films in the respective franchises to that point. The Ripley clone from Alien: Resurrection teamed up with the Predators to take on new Terminator/Alien hybrids.

It’s a wild story, which the live-action movies will probably never imitate.
The T2 Trilogy (2001)

There have been a few tie-in novels for the Terminator franchise. But The T2 Trilogy by S. M. Stirling was perhaps the most interesting as it introduced Dieter von Rossbach, a former Austrian counterterrorism operative who was the human model for the T-800.

Dieter gets drawn into the orbit of John and Sarah Connor as they eventually bring him in on their future war with Skynet. The series also introduced the I-950 Terminator Infiltrator model, which was born human and modified to feel emotions to blend in with normal humans over a long period of time.

The story unfolds over three novels: T2: Infiltrator, T2: Rising Storm, and T2: The Future War. It’s definitely not in canon for the franchise, but The T2 Trilogy is an entertaining diversion from it.
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)

It took 12 years for a second Terminator sequel to finally materialize. James Cameron and Linda Hamilton declined to return, so Jonathan Mostow stepped into the director’s chair and Sarah Connor was revealed to have died a few years after the events of Terminator 2.

Schwarzenegger once again reprised his role a T-800 sent to protect John Connor... after it successfully killed him in the future! This time around, there was a new Terminator model chasing Connor and killing off the men and women who would go on to become leaders in his resistance movement against Skynet.
John Connor 2.0

Nick Stahl stepped into the role of John Connor, after Ed Furlong was reportedly rejected over his substance abuse at the time. This would kick off the trend of every subsequent Terminator movie recasting John Connor.

Stahl’s incarnation of John Connor was a bit haggard after spending years living off of the grid. But Skynet wasn’t able to locate him in that time period, so it worked.
Kate Brewster

Claire Danes was brought in as a last-minute replacement for actress Sophia Bush. Kate Brewster had actually met John Connor before the events depicted in Terminator 2. In Terminator 3, they are reunited when Kate catches John breaking into her veterinary office.

They soon discover that Kate is destined to be John’s wife if the future, and her father had a role in allowing Skynet to exist.
The T-X

After years of rumors of a female Terminator, Rise of the Machines finally introduced Kristanna Loken as the T-X. While the T-X didn’t have the fully-liquid metal body of the T-1000, it had weapons built into its body and it also had the ability to control other machines... including the T-800!

However, the T-X never quite achieved the same iconic status that the T-800 and the T-1000 models achieved.
Judgment Day

Terminator 3 put forth the idea that Judgment Day could not be prevented, only delayed. This proved to be correct when John and Kate were tricked by her father into escaping to a fallout shelter as Skynet began bombing the world.

Thus John and Kate had no choice but to become the leaders of humanity’s survivors, as they were always meant to be.

The Terminator franchise could have ended there... but that never happens in Hollywood! As long as there’s even a hint of blood in a stone, the Hollywood machine will keep trying. It’s very much like Skynet in that regard.
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008)

Screenwriter Josh Friedman created a Terminator TV series for Fox called Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

The series essentially erased Terminator 3 by sending Sarah and John a few years further into the future, past Sarah’s death (as indicated in T3) and closer to the rise of Skynet.

Although Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles premiered with an impressive 18 million viewers, the audience drop off was immense. Fox canceled the series after only two seasons.
Sarah Connor 2.0

Lena Headey became the second actress to portray Sarah Connor. And this was not without some controversy, since Headey didn’t resemble Linda Hamilton nor did she have the impressive physique that Sarah Connor had in Terminator 2.

What Headey did have a was a good take on Sarah Connor’s spirit, which seemed to quiet most of her detractors. Because Headey got to play Sarah over the course of two seasons, she has logged in more time as that character than anyone else has.

Unless there’s another Terminator TV series, that record seems unlikely to fall.
John Connor 3.0

Prior to joining Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Thomas Dekker had a minor role on NBC’s Heroes that ended when he abruptly left that show. Dekker was subsequently cast as the teenage version of John Connor.

At the time, Dekker said that he saw his version of John as a continuation of Edward Furlong’s incarnation from the second movie.

The TV series also gave John a complicated relationship with his mother, and with his Terminator protector, Cameron.
Cameron

As a tribute to James Cameron, The Sarah Connor Chronicles creative team named Summer Glau’s Terminator “Cameron.” In the pilot episode, Cameron displayed more realistic human interaction than any previous Terminator.

That was significantly dialed back in the series, as Glau’s Terminator became more machine-like with occasional emotional displays.

Glau was already beloved by genre fans for playing River Tam in Firefly and Serenity. The Sarah Connor Chronicles briefly made Glau even more popular. But the short life of the series meant that Cameron would never become a true Terminator icon.
Cromartie

The lead bad guy Terminator of The Sarah Connor Chronicles was best known as “Cromartie.” The role was played by Owain Yeoman in the pilot and by Garret Dillahunt in the regular series.

We’re including Cromartie in this list because he seems to confirm our long-held theory that the humourous Terminator quips are a built-in design flaw that covers the entire T-800 to T-888 model series.

How else would you explain substitute teacher Cromartie taking the time to say “class dismissed” after a botched hit on John Connor?
Derek Reese

The Sarah Connor Chronicles made one other major contribution to the Terminator mythos: Derek Reese, the older brother of John’s father, Kyle Reese.

Derek’s existence will probably be ignored by all other Terminator stories, but Brian Austin Green was actually quite good in the role as both a mentor for John and a possible love interest for Sarah.

Derek’s fate on The Sarah Connor Chronicles was also one of the more shocking scenes in the series’ short history. If the series had survived to a third season, Derek’s demise would probably have been changed. But it stands out as one of the most powerful moments of the entire show.
Terminator Salvation (2009)

Terminator Salvation was meant to become the first of a brand new trilogy of Terminator films. It just didn’t quite work out that way.

As directed by McG (AKA Joseph McGinty Nichol), Terminator Salvation took place in the future world that was glimpsed in the previous films as Skynet attempted to eliminate John Connor and Kyle Reese.

This was also the first Terminator film in which Arnold Schwarzenegger did not star in, but his face and likeness were used for a T-800 late in the movie.

As originally conceived, Terminator Salvation didn’t have a large role for John Connor. That changed when Christian Bale told McG that he wanted to play John in the film.
John Connor 4.0

Christian Bale’s John Connor was a man struggling to live up to the legend that his mother had led him to believe.

It was John’s “destiny” to lead mankind, but he didn’t see himself as that leader.
Marcus Wright

As played by Sam Worthington, Marcus Wright was the first successful human/Terminator hybrid. Marcus is also one of the main characters of Terminator Salvation, as he comes to realize who and what he really is.

There were at least two alternate endings for Terminator Salvation. In one of the endings, John’s skin would have been grafted onto Marcus’ cyborg body to create the illusion that John Connor survived his fatal injuries. The other ending was rumored to feature John awakening from life-saving surgery only to go on a Terminator-induced rampage and kill everyone that he loved.

Hmm.... a John Connor Terminator. Why does that sound so familiar?
Kate Connor 2.0

It should be noted that Terminator Salvation didn’t ignore Terminator 3. Kate Brewster returned as John’s wife, with Bryce Dallas Howard taking over the role.

The film kind of glossed over how Kate went from a veterinarian to a medical doctor capable of a heart transplant (!)... but I suppose we’ll just have to believe McG when he said that she “read some books” and interviewed other doctors.

Sure. Why not?
Kyle Reese 2.5

Technically, Jonathan Jackson was the second actor to play Kyle Reese in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. But Jackson was only a recurring guest star in the role, so he doesn’t quite merit his own place on this list.

By comparison, Anton Yelchin’s Kyle Reese has a much bigger role as Kyle Reese in Terminator Salvation. For reasons that are never fully explained in the film, Skynet seems to realize that Kyle Reese is important to John, but the machines don’t execute him when they get the chance.

Kyle and his young companion, Star (Jadagrace Berry) are also befriended by Marcus, which gave him and and John Connor a personal stake in rescuing them from Skynet.
Terminator Genisys (2015)

Now it’s time to catch up with the future! Game of Thrones and Thor: The Dark World helmer, Alan Taylor directed Terminator Genisys, from a script by Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier.

This is both a reboot and a sequel to the previous Terminator films. Arnold Schwarzenegger is once again back as the title character... but there have been plenty of changes.
Old Terminator

To account for Schwarzenegger’s aged appearance, the screenwriters placed his newest T-800 model much further in the past than ever before.

And because his human flesh ages, the Terminator can appear to be a much older man.
Sarah Connor 3.0

Game of Thrones actress Emilia Clarke has become the third actress to portray Sarah Connor, and Linda Hamilton is now the only Sarah Connor who hasn’t been on Game of Thrones!

Clarke’s Sarah Connor is very different from the Sarah portrayed in the first movie by Hamilton. This Sarah has lived with a Terminator for most of her life, and she’s even formed an emotional bond with the machine while learning how to become a warrior alongside it.
Kyle Reese 3.0

Jai Courtney is the new Kyle Reese, a man who discovers that the past is not at all what he was expecting it to be.
John Connor 5.0

For the fifth time, we have a new John Connor! This time, Jason Clarke has stepped into the role of humanity’s savior...

Or has he become humanity’s greatest nemesis?
The Future of The Terminator

Director James Cameron will reclaim the rights to The Terminator in 2019 under previously established copyright laws. But in the meantime, we may see more Terminator sequels and even another Terminator TV series.

X-Men: First Class writers Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz were signed in 2013 to create Terminator: Project Skynet, a new TV series that will reportedly tie into the original film and the new continuity laid out in Terminator Genisys. However, there have been very few updates released about that project and it is unclear if it will still happen.

There are sequels in development for Terminator Genisys, but nothing is currently confirmed. If the film’s producers have their way, Genisys will be the first film of a new Terminator trilogy.

But they will have to make two movies in four years to beat the deadline before The Terminator reverts to Cameron.