Matt Smith’s confusing Terminator Genisys character marked a franchise first and was apparently supposed to play a bigger role in the sequels that never happened. The Terminator saga has course-corrected several times by now, with Terminator Genisys being one of many attempts to relaunch the franchise. With a stellar cast led by Emilia Clarke and promising to reinvent Terminator for a new generation, Genisys sounded great on paper, but it failed to deliver on its fun new concepts.

One of those new concepts was the introduction of an all-new timeline that was drastically different from the ones we knew, even though the movie recreated a lot of iconic Terminator movies. From a T-800 raising Sarah Connor to the T-1000 facing Kyle Reese, Terminator Genisys played around with the franchise’s established lore and threw in some interesting ideas. Unfortunately, most of them didn’t stick, with one infamous example being Matt Smith’s Alex. Although Alex was clearly meant to be a big setup for the sequel, the character and his role in the story were quite confusing.

Matt Smith Played Alex, The Physical Manifestation Of Skynet

“Alex” Was Skynet Uploaded In A T-5000

Skynet has been portrayed in a lot of different ways throughout the Terminator franchise, but Genisys was the first time that the movies gave the iconic AI system a physical embodiment. At the height of the war between humans and machines in an alternate timeline from the ones we were used to, Skynet uploaded itself into a T-5000, a brand-new Terminator model that remains exclusive to Terminator Genisys to this day. The T-5000 in question was played by Matt Smith and was able to infiltrate the resistance led by John Connor.

The T-5000 took on the idenтιтy of “Alex,” who appeared to be a human soldier and earned John Connor’s trust. While we don’t know much about the T-5000 model and how it compares to the T-1000 or the T-3000 – the latter of which also debuted in Terminator Genisys – the fact is that Alex infiltrated Tech-Com in a way that no other Terminator had been able to. Alex betrayed and captured John Connor and later used him to create a T-3000 model – a hybrid between a human body and a Terminator.

What Alex’s Plan Really Was In Terminator Genisys

Skynet Needed To Ensure Its Own Existence

Skynet, or Alex, needed to make sure that the Genisys operating system would be launched in the 2010s. With Kyle Reese being sent into the past and meeting a trained Sarah Connor, Skynet once again reentered the endless time travel war it has battled against humans since the first movie by sending T-3000 John Connor to 2014. There, the brainwashed John Connor was to find Kyle and Sarah and prevent them from interfering with the launch of Genisys.

The T-3000 was designed to be an infiltrator, with its body working somewhat similarly to that of a T-1000. While we don’t know exactly how the Terminator Genisys timeline came to be, we know that it was different enough from the ones covered in the first four Terminator movies. In this version of the story, the machines’ takeover would come through the Genisys operating system, which was basically Skynet under a different name and reimagined for the 2010s. Therefore, Skynet’s plan in Terminator Genisys was to guarantee its own existence.

What Happened To Alex At The End Of Terminator Genisys

Skynet Was Not Destroyed In Terminator Genisys

While the Skynet Core was destroyed at the end of Terminator Genisys, that was not the end for Alex. A holographic representation of Skynet was revealed during Terminator Genisys‘ post-credits scene, confirming that the operational system had not been destroyed completely and that it would return somehow. Considering how small a role Matt Smith had in Genisys, it is safe to say that the franchise planned to revisit Skynet’s human form in future movies. However, Terminator Genisys never got a direct sequel, with the saga once again being rebooted in Terminator: Dark Fate.

Terminator Genisys was supposed to be the first entry in a new series of Terminator movies, hence all the changes and setups. While Terminator Genisys did okay at the box office, it was not enough for it to get a sequel, especially after the mixed reviews. What Terminator 7 will be remains to be seen, but it is unlikely that Alex ever shows up again in the franchise. That said, the idea of Skynet having a physical manifestation in the form of a highly advanced Terminator model is quite interesting and should perhaps be revisited.