Is This How Terminator: Genesis Will Connect To James Cameron's Original Film?

Terminator 5 is starting to sound a little bit like Back to the Future Part II.

The fifth Terminator is actually dubbed Terminator: Genesis, and we know more than a few things about it. Arnold Schwarzenegger will return, though in what role, we aren’t yet sure. Alan Taylor (Thor the Dark World) directs, and today’s theory suggests that he will find ways to directly connect his new movie – and subsequent sequels – with James Cameron’s original 1984 film, The Terminator.

HitFix brought up the ideas existing in the Terminator: Genesis screenplay, pointing out that from what they have read, there is a scene that will essentially take place in a sequence from the first Terminator movie. The site’s editor, Drew McWeeny, explains:

There’s a scene in the script where literally, we see the scene in the first Terminator where Arnold steps out, the punks threaten him, he rips Bill Paxton’s heart out and takes his clothes and wanders off. And as soon as that scene ends, another Arnold Schwarzenegger who’s older, and bearded and a very different version of the Terminator, comes walking in from the other side and plays another scene, right at the scene of that first incident."

He means this terrific (and NSFW) scene. Stop being a couple of cans short of a six pack and watch it, already:

Now, does this mean that scene remains in the Terminator: Genesis scene? Not exactly. McWeeny might have seen an earlier draft. Or Alan Taylor could have decided that a scene doesn’t work, for whatever reason, and it ends up in the discard pile. But I think we can draw from this the notion that they are going to want to age Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator machine in Genesis, and they aren’t going to lean on high-tech digital effects to try and make the 66-year-old action star look like he did 30 years ago.

This feeds into quotes Arnold Schwarzenegger said a while back, when he commented on the use of time travel in the new movie’s script, and the ability of his machine to "age." This theory is also back up by quotes ScreenRant found from professional body builder Aaron Williamson, who at one point told his social media followers that he had been hired to play a T-800 in the new movie. Maybe the director needed him to be a stand-in for younger Arnold in scenes that we’ll now see from the perspective of older Schwarzenegger?

We’re speculating. Here’s what we know for sure. Terminator: Genesis co-stars Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) as Sarah Connor; Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty) as John Connor; and Jai Courtney as Kyle Reese. It will be in theaters on July 1, 2015.

Sean O'Connell
Managing Editor

Sean O’Connell is a journalist and CinemaBlend’s Managing Editor. Having been with the site since 2011, Sean interviewed myriad directors, actors and producers, and created ReelBlend, which he proudly cohosts with Jake Hamilton and Kevin McCarthy. And he's the author of RELEASE THE SNYDER CUT, the Spider-Man history book WITH GREAT POWER, and an upcoming book about Bruce Willis.