Judgment Day Looms In Terminator Genisys Clips As James Cameron Trumpets Franchise Renaissance

As the fifth installment in the seminal sci-fi franchise, Terminator Genisys has already proved overly divisive, as Alan Taylor’s sequel-cum-reboot teeters on the edge of respecting what has come before and taking the genre-defining series in a different direction.

It’s a paradox that James Cameron acknowledges in this new featurette for next month’s summer blockbuster, though he goes on to describe Taylor’s feature as the beginning of a renaissance for the series as a whole. As the franchise’s founding father, Cameron’s opinion is notable in and of itself, and while Paramount Pictures wouldn’t sanction a clip that wasn’t fully in support of Genisys, the esteemed director’s speech still gives us reason to be hopeful.

Kicking Rise of the Machines and Salvation to the curb, Terminator Genisys will offer up a slice of revisionist history as Judgement Day looms. If you want to go into the sequel with a fresh slate, we would advise against watching the footage above, which delves into spoiler territory unabated and effectively ruins the film’s core twist. Still, let’s just say that the relationship between Emilia Clarke’s badass Sarah Connor and John, her son from the future, isn’t all what it seems.

Alongside Clarke is Jai Courtney’s Kyle Reese, who travels back in time under the illusion that Sarah is a vulnerable heroine-in-waiting. The truth, however, is much different, and Clarke’s rendition of the famed protagonist is reminiscent of Linda Hamilton’s turn as Sarah in the indelible Terminator 2. Here’s hoping that’s not the only resemblance Genisys has to its forebearer.

Terminator Genisys will open in theaters on July 1.

When John Connor (Jason Clarke), leader of the human resistance, sends Sgt. Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) back to 1984 to protect Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) and safeguard the future, an unexpected turn of events creates a fractured timeline. Now, Sgt. Reese finds himself in a new and unfamiliar version of the past, where he is faced with unlikely allies, including the Guardian (Arnold Schwarzenegger), dangerous new enemies, and an unexpected new mission: To reset the future…