Although theTerminatormovies still haven’t recast Arnold Schwarzenegger’s original T-800, 2024’sTerminator Zeroproved that this could work for the series.TheTerminatormoviesbegan with 1984’s dark, propulsive action thrillerThe Terminator. A star vehicle for both its heroine Linda Hamilton and its villain Arnold Schwarzenegger,The Terminatorwas a lean, brutal chase movie whose time-traveling sci-fi storyline came second to its horror-indebted thrills. As surprising as it may seem now,The Terminatorwas as much a horror movie as an action-packed sci-fi epic.
As theTerminatorseries continued, its budgets ballooned and each subsequent movie grew more and more reliant on Schwarzenegger’s character. By the timeTerminator Genisysrecast Sarah Connorbut brought back Schwarzenegger anyway, it was clear the series needed a new direction. Despite this, 2019’s Terminator:Dark Fatesaw Schwarzenegger return to the franchise once again even though its timeline had been rebooted for the umpteenth time at this stage. Fortunately, 2024’sTerminator Zeromade an overdue change.
Terminator Zero’s Classic Terminator Was Not Played By Arnold Schwarzenegger
Timothy Olyphant Played The Main Villain of Terminator Zero
2024’s anime seriesTerminator Zerofollowed Malcolm Lee as he developed Skynet’s main competitor, Kokoro, in 1997 in Japan. The series followed Lee’s attempts to escape a Terminator with his three children in tow, aided by a resistance soldier sent back from the future to shut down Kokoro and protect Malcolm and his family. UnlikeallTerminator: Judgment Day’s sequels,Terminator Zeroutilizes its main Terminator as the anime’s villain.
Terminator Zerowas the first time sinceThe Sarah Connor Chroniclesthat viewers weren’t treated to Schwarzenegger playing either the main villain or the hero in aTerminatorproject.
What made this particularly exciting was the fact that, for once, the character wasn’t played by Schwarzenegger. It wasn’t a T-800, butthe main Terminator ofTerminator Zerowas a villain, and it was played by Timothy Olyphant. AlthoughTerminator: Salvationfeatured numerous Terminator models and bothGenisysandDark Fateintroduced their own spins on the cybernetic assassins, this was the first time sinceThe Sarah Connor Chroniclesthat viewers weren’t treated to Schwarzenegger playing either the main villain or the hero in aTerminatorproject.
Timothy Olyphant’s Terminator Was Just As Terrifying As The Original T-800
Terminator Zero Wisely Treated The New Terminator As A Straightforward Villain
Olyphant’s performance as the Terminator was appropriately threatening, but this was not the only reason that he made for an instantly iconic Terminator.Terminator Zerotreated its Terminator as a horror movie monster rather than a tragic antiheroor a secretly sweet figure. This is exactly the approach that Cameron’s original movie took to the T-800, portraying Schwarzenegger’s character as an unthinking, unfeeling killing machine. By taking theTerminatorseries back to its horror roots,Terminator Zerobreathed new life into the franchise.
In the intervening decades betweenJudgment DayandTerminator Zero, the series did everything imaginable to humanize Schwarzenegger’s T-800 but never made him scary again. This might have been becauseJudgment Daydid a great job of making the villain an unlikely hero that it effectively ruined the T-800’s original appeal. Whether it wasDark Fateturning him into a suburban stepfather named “Carl" orGenisyscreating a new timeline where he was Sarah Connor’s surrogate father figure throughout her childhood, the franchise thoroughly, repeatedly defanged the Terminator.
1984
1991
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
2003
2009
2008–09
2015
2019
Terminator Zero
2024–Present
This was why Terminator Zero’s villain came as such a welcome surprise. Olyphant’s android assassin didn’t come with the same baggage as Schwarzenegger’s T-800 and, from the moment he was introduced, it was clear that he was a lethal force to be reckoned with. This Terminator was immune to reason and needed to be defeated by force, reminding viewers just how scary the franchise’s title characters can be.
Terminator Zero Was An Important Reminder That Terminator Can Have New Characters
Terminator Zero Proved The Franchise Doesn’t Need To Keep Rebooting and Recasting
AlthoughThe Sarah Connor Chroniclessuccessfully recast Sarah Connor,theTerminatorseries has mostly held on to its original characters as much as possiblethroughout numerous reboots. Sarah, John, and Schwarzenegger’s T-800 all appear inTerminator 3: Rise of the Machines,Terminator: Salvation,Terminator Genisys, andTerminator: Dark Fate, even though every reboot offers a new timeline and a new combination of these heroes. A recast John is the star ofTerminator 3: Rise of the Machinesalongside Schwarzenegger’s T-800, but his mother Sarah is absent.
It is impossible not to feel like the franchise is scraping the bottom of the barrel by constantly recasting the same existing characters.
WhileTerminator Genisysrecast Sarah and John alike, the reboot still brought back Schwarzenegger in his famous role. In contrast,Dark Fatekilled off John Connorin its infamous opening scene but brought back Linda Hamilton’s original Sarah Connor and Schwarzenegger once again. It is impossible not to feel like the franchise is scraping the bottom of the barrel by constantly recasting the same existing characters, soTerminator Zerointroducing a whole new set of heroes and villains alike feels outright revolutionary given the franchise’s historic fear of change.
Before Terminator Zero, This Other Terminator Show Also Didn’t Feature Schwarzenegger
2007’s Underrated The Sarah Connor Chronicles Also Left Schwarzenegger’s T-800 Behind
To be fair to the series,theTerminatorfranchise did try to move on from Schwarzenegger’s T-800 once before. In 2007, the aforementioned TV seriesThe Sarah Connor Chronicleswas the firstTerminatorproject not to feature Schwarzenegger’s character in a prominent part, although this may have merely been because the star was too big for a television role. In any case, the show was an underrated success that deserved more love, andThe Sarah Connor Chroniclesnow acts as another reminder that the franchise can flourish without its most famous face.
It is ironic that Schwarzenegger was the breakout star of theTerminatormovies, since his presence has arguably hurt the later sequels in the series. ForTerminator 7’s reboot story to work, the series would need to do something as fresh, unpredictable, and exciting asTerminator Zerodid with the franchise. However, this would inevitably mean dropping Schwarzenegger’s T-800.
By now, Schwarzenegger’s presence is a guarantee that a Terminator project won’t rock the boat or try anything too interesting.
It is too late to reinvent the T-800 as a villain, and viewers have already seen no less than four separate heroic and anti-heroic interpretations of the character. IfTerminator Zero’s success proves anything, it is that the series must give this character a well-earned rest. Schwarzenegger’s T-800 is not just the face of the franchise anymore. By now, Schwarzenegger’s presence is a guarantee that aTerminatorproject won’t rock the boat or try anything too interesting. As such, the nextTerminatorneeds to followTerminator Zero’s lead and drop Schwarzenegger’s T-800 from its plot.
