Salvationwould also be the first instalment of the   series to be released with a PG-13 evaluation , though that would hardly be one of its major shortcoming . While the movie , which saw an at - best miscellaneous reception , has been criticized on a routine of levels , the consensus seemingly come down to the fact that , despite taking the series into a setting that had only been razz in the previous films , Salvationadded very niggling newfangled cloth to theTerminatorfranchise ( a sentiment repeat by series creator James Cameron . )

Or did it ? WhileTerminator Salvationmay end with John Connor preparing to lead the human resistance after mankind achieve its first real victory against Skynet , the movie was initially intended to end on a drastically dissimilar and much darker note . While the original termination would surely have been a major risk and doubtlessly would have lead motion-picture fan   in a state of unmitigated shock , it would also have   fructify the serial publication up for a shiny futurity with endless raw possibilities .

John Connor Was Originally Going To Die

WhileTerminator   Salvationends on a relatively triumphant note , the motion-picture show was originally set to go down a much   grimmer route that would have stop the film on a major cliffhanger   with the dying of John Connor , with his skin , including his face , being transplant onto Connor ’s friend , the human - Terminator hybrid Marcus Wright , played by Sam Worthington .   The   ending that was ultimately used forTerminator Salvationsees Connor in a one - man saving cognitive operation on a Skynet fastness to deliver a young Kyle Reese , a Resistance fighter who , through time - travel , will finally become   Connor ’s father , as seen in the originalTerminator .

It is at this point that Marcus also learns the truth behind his own creation - that he was designed to lure Connor into the Skynet groundwork in edict for him to be kill before he can become the leader of mankind ’s warfare against the machine . Connor succeeds in rescue Kyle , but is mortally wound after battling a T-800 with the same aim as the one he was protected by inTerminator 2(withArnold Schwarzenegger ’s look being digitally apply , give that he was still serve as Governor of California at the time . ) In the ending , Marcus sacrifice his life to keep Connor by hold his pump to be transplanted into the next leader of the Resistance . While the ending with Connor ’s death would have been a jarring enough developing on its own , especially for a character that the series had expend three movie establishing as the savior of humanity , that would have only been the one-half of it .

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A collage image of Luke Skywalker in A New Hope

Why Connor’s Death Would Have Been The Better Ending

The original ending ofTerminator Salvationwould have had far reaching implications for the dealership , first and first being that it would efficaciously establish that the timeline repose out in the preceding picture had been massively altered ( withthe Terminator timelineitself having always been a quite a tangled web for the serial publication . ) The ending ofTerminator 2left John and Sarah Connor to conceive that the impending apocalypse had been ward off , only forTerminator 3to make exculpated that they had simply delay the inevitable . With the ending ofSalvationinvolving Connor ’s last , it would have become exculpated that the termination ofTerminator 2had taken the future way   off - course , with John Connor no longer destined to lead the human uprising against the machines . moreover , while the   triumph   of the Resistance had previously been assured enough for Skynet to send exterminator back through time to prevent Connor ’s parturition , the alteration to the timeline see inTerminator 2now fundamentally meant that humanity could very well lose to Skynet in the new timeline .

HadSalvationgone with the original close , it would have set theTerminatorseries up to go in nigh any new direction . With the dealership no longer tether to the bequest of John Connor , it could have insert one or more new character to meet the void left by his dying , while setting up Marcus as a go back villain . Conversely , with Marcus having been a human being prior to being co - opted by Skynet , subsequent movies could   have even work in the opposite direction and   establishedhimas the newfangled protagonist of the serial , combat to regain control of his mind and consistency after fully realise the puppet Skynet has change by reversal him into .

Whatever new   path   theTerminatorfranchise   would choose to take at the point , the original ending ofSalvationwould have created much straight-out boulevard for it to explore . WithSalvationending as it does , even Arnold Schwarzenegger was unimpressed with   the photographic film , whileLinda Hamilton has described the entireTerminatorseriesafter the 2nd   movie as"forgettable " .   WithSalvationhaving failed to set up the next phase angle ofTerminatormovies ready in man ’s next state of war with Skynet , the franchise would finish up going   back to the draft board .

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Where Terminator Salvation Left The Franchise

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November’sTerminator : Dark Fatewill grade the late effort to catch one’s breath new life into theTerminatormovies , and if other reactions to the film are any indication , it may well in conclusion be the one to pull it off . As far as continuity goes , Dark Fatewill   ignore every installment in the franchise fromTerminator 3on , serving as a unmediated sequel toTerminator 2 , while   also mark the counter of James Cameron to the franchise , albeitin a moderately special capacity . The real come-on ofDark Fateis Linda Hamilton   recapitulate her iconic use as Sarah Connor , a fact so heavily emphasized in the marketing that even Arnold Schwarzenegger ’s return has train a detectable back seat ( to say nothing ofthe also returning Edward Furlongbeing totally unseen thus far . ) to boot , Dark Fatewill be the first R - RatedTerminatormoviesinceRise of the Machines .

The former Logos - of - oral fissure onTerminator : Dark Fatemay give reason to believe that it   could finally be the film to take the franchise back to its aura days . While that ’s potential to be reassuring for moviegoers disappointed by the more recentTerminatormovies , it ’s grueling not to wonder what could have been hadSalvationstuck with its   initial ending . At a minimum , it would have thrown a very unexpected twist at audiences while unfold theTerminatormovies to taking the story of mankind ’s war against Skynet into really uncharted territory . finally , the force that jettisoning the original ending ofTerminator Salvationwould have does illustrate that the very dissertation of theTerminatorseries,“the future is not set " , will always ring true .

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Christian Bale as John Connor shooting a gun Terminator Salvation Ending

Christian Bale as John Connor looking surprised in Terminator Salvation

Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright looking intense in Terminator Salvation

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton in Terminator Dark Fate

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