James Cameron, creator of the franchise and producer on this movie, hosted the Terminator: Dark Fate panel at Comic-Con today, meaning new info about the upcoming sixth Terminator movie, and third reboot, has come our way. Including the knowledge that Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 has a very unexpected name in the film.
According to multiple sources who were in attendance during the panel, a full scene from Dark Fate was shown. This hasn’t been released online just yet, but thanks to hearsay we’ve got the gist of it. It consists of the cyborg coming out of his cabin and having a confrontation with Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor. As the one Terminator she trusted was destroyed at the end of T2, Sarah is dismissive when this apparently benign T-800 introduces himself as Carl.
Yup, Schwarzenegger’s new character in Dark Fate is named Carl. No offense to any Carls out there, of course, as it’s a fine name. But in this context, it sounds like the name’s been attached to the killer robot for levity. This can’t help but give us flashbacks to Terminator: Genisys having the original, aged T-800 called “Pops” by Emilia Clarke’s Sarah. Seeing as DF is supposed to move the franchise way away from Genisys, that might set off warning bells.
On the other hand, just about everything else is pointing to Dark Fate being the sequel fans have been asking for since the 90s. For one, it’s wiping away the past three films from continuity and will act as a direct follow-up to 1991’s Terminator: Judgement Day. We already knew Hamilton was returning for the first time since then, but this SDCC panel also revealed that Edward Furlong would be making a shock comeback as John Connor.
Also starring Mackenzie Davis, Natalia Reyes and Gabriel Luna, Terminator: Dark Fate blasts into theaters on November 1st. In the meantime, tell us, are you excited to see Schwarzenegger as Carl? Let us know in the comments section below.