A number of actors have played John Connor across the length and breadth of the extended Terminator franchise, but most fans would immediately conjure an image of Edward Furlong in their heads if asked to picture the future leader of the human resistance, which is to be expected when he was such a pivotal part of James Cameron’s all-time classic Judgment Day.
Unfortunately, Furlong’s personal issues got the better of him, leading to a descent into drug and alcohol addiction. He initially signed on to reprise the role a dozen years later in Rise of the Machines, but he was eventually ruled out of consideration, and he admitted around the time that he was in no condition to get himself involved in what was the most expensive movie ever made back then.
Nick Stahl stepped in for the third installment, Christian Bale’s brief tenure as John for Salvation is best remembered for his infamous on-set rant rather than anything he brought to the table in terms of his performance, and Jason Clarke inherited the part when Genisys rolled around. Coming full circle, Furlong then saw his face digitally de-aged and slapped onto a double for Dark Fate, which found him getting shotgunned into oblivion at the very beginning of the movie.
Insider Daniel Richtman claims that Paramount want the 43 year-old back for a future Terminator project, though, but doesn’t give any sort of indication as to what said project is or how his John Connor is poised to return. It would definitely be a cathartic experience for the actor, but this is just the latest in a long line of cybernetic speculation to emanate from the tipster recently, so it’s best not getting your hopes up about an Edward Furlong comeback yet.
