Terminator may be an incredibly popular franchise with six movies, a TV series, and other interactive elements, but the timeline is also incredibly messy. Considering the central premise in the films deals with time travel and people in the future attempting to alter history, it makes sense that the franchise has been fragmented into various timelines. Both The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day were written and directed by James Cameron, who appeared to have a consistent vision for his films. It was after T2 that things started to get more confusing.

Cameron intended for the series to end with T2, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have some idea of where the story could go after. In addition, due to the overall success of the movies, studios and producers were excited to capitalize on the franchise and expand it further. Since then, there have been plenty of stories that dig into potential futures and sequels for the series overall. However, as with a lot of long-running franchises, there have been a lot of retcons and changes to the canon, which can make it a little hard to keep track of everything in the Terminator universe.

5

T2 3-D: Battle Across Time Is A Terminator 2 Tie-In

T2 3-D: Battle Across Time (1996)

T2 3-D: Battle Across Time is an officially licensed and produced follow-up to Cameron’s T2, directed and written by Cameron himself. The project was made to be part of an interactive live show experience at Universal Studios, which lasted a little over 20 minutes. The actors from T2 reprised their roles, and as the events played out on a large screen, live actors would perform and interact with the film on stage.

While this mini-sequel doesn’t add much to the larger arc of the series, it’s a fun spin-off adventure bringing in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800, Robert Patrick’s T-1000, and the Connors, played by Linda Hamilton and Edward Furlong. Sarah and John hack into Cyberdine systems, revealing a threat from the company that poses as being safe and legitimate. The T-1000 arrives from the future and kills the presenter before Schwarzenegger comes through the screen from the future and grabs the Connors to come to help him end the threat once and for all.

Lots of action and interactive elements make it clear this story is made for the benefit of a theme park ride, but nonetheless, it’s the only official sequel directed by Cameron, so it’s worth mentioning.

4

Terminator 3 Was The First Judgment Day Sequel

Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines (2003)

The earliest feature-length sequel in the series still took 12 years to arrive in theaters after the previous entry. Following the successful destruction of Cyberdyne, which happens in Terminator 2, the future dystopia where Skynet rules the planet is delayed, but it is not completely resolved. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines sees a new threat sent back in time to disrupt the uprising and victory of John Connor, the T-X.

While one element of the story plays out in the future with future John Connor’s death, the bulk of the action happens in the present, with the T-X trying to eliminate as many future leaders of the uprising as possible, including John and his future wife, Kate Brewster. Schwarzenegger returns as an updated and reprogrammed T-850 sent back by the resistance to protect John Connor and his future wife.

All of these events take place after the main story in T2, with a now grown-up John Connor played by Nick Stahl. Linda Hamilton did not return to reprise her role as Sarah Connor for several reasons, but ultimately, T3 still set up a path forward for the later sequel, Terminator: Salvation, in 2009.

3

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Ignores Terminator 3

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008 – 2009)

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles depicts an alternative version of events after Terminator 2. The series ran for two seasons before it was canceled. Despite the short run of the show, it still established its alternative history as Sarah and John tried to keep a low profile after destroying Cyberdyne, and they were aided in their efforts by a reprogrammed Terminator named Cameron, played by Summer Glau.

As with Rise of the Machines, The Sarah Connor Chronicles also starts with the premise that the Skynet uprising is merely delayed after Cyberdyne’s destruction. The series explores Sarah and John building a resistance group, actively seeking out significant events in Skynet’s formation, and they attempt to thwart them in their efforts to ensure the doomed future never fully comes to pᴀss. As a TV series, the show had more flexibility to build out storylines and reveal other sides to the characters, which was a pleasant shift for the franchise.

2

Terminator: Genisys Rewrites The Entire Franchise (Including T2)

Terminator: Genisys (2015)

As the name suggests, Terminator: Genisys takes a different approach and decides to reboot the franchise. The film kicks off with John Connor attempting to shut down Skynet, just as the whole time travel narrative begins once again. This time, when Terminator machines are sent back to kill off Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke), it’s revealed that her parents were killed earlier and a T-800 robot (Arnold Schwarzenegger) raised her and is affectionately referred to as Pops.

The story moves in a different direction from the originals, opting to travel forward in time to 2017 and put a stop to Skynet, which has been renamed Genisys, from taking over. This iteration of the franchise had some of the most creative and innovative updates to the franchise. Despite this, it performed poorly at the domestic box office and struggled to recover studio costs despite being the second-highest-grossing film in the franchise.

1

Terminator: Dark Fate Ignores Everything That Came After T2

Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)

After decades away from the franchise, James Cameron finally stepped back in for Terminator: Dark Fate to help write and produce the film. With Cameron returning, the decision was made to refresh the story to follow on from T2 and ignore the other projects in between. Dark Fate reveals that after Sarah and John manage to destroy Cyberdyne, John is killed by another T-800 sent back by Skynet. Sarah spends the following 20 years fighting off threats from the future with the help of a mysterious source who relays information about incoming threats.

When Sarah and some new friends track down the source, they find that it was the same T-800 who killed John, left stranded back in time, and without a new initiative, he developed a conscience and decided to help Sarah as much as he could, “For John.” As a team, they all work together to stop a new threat from a mysterious AI known as Legion. Despite all of this, the movie flopped at the box office, and any plans for a future sequel were scrapped.

What’s Next For The Terminator Franchise?

Terminator: Dark Fate seemed to solidify the trend that the Terminator franchise has struggled to find its footing since Terminator 2. While that caused a lot of fear among fans about the future of the franchise, the one man who those same fans have faith in to bring the franchise back to its former glory apparently still has plans for the Terminator movies. While James Cameron only directed the first two movies in the franchise, he produced Terminator: Dark Fate and also provided the story. That seems to have invigorated his pᴀssion for the franchise.

In August 2024, Cameron reported that he is working on a secret Terminator project that would continue the franchise. He further spoke about the project in an interview with Empire, where he ᴀssured fans that it was “more than a plan” and even hinted that it would take things in a new direction:

There’s certain things that are of the fabric of Terminator that have nothing to do with the Linda Hamilton of it all, or the Arnold of it. You’ve got powerless main characters, essentially, fighting for their lives, who get no support from existing power structures, and have to circumvent them but somehow maintain a moral compᴀss. And then you throw A.I. into the mix. Those principles are sound principles for storytelling today, right? So I have no doubt that subsequent Terminator films will not only be possible, but they’ll kick ᴀss. But this is the moment where you jettison all the specific iconography. If this is a spoiler, or reveal, or whatever, that’s fine. This is the moment when you jettison everything that is specific to the last forty years of Terminator, but you live by those principles.

It is exciting to see Cameron still pᴀssionate about this universe, even with the failure of Terminator: Dark Fate. However, perhaps the most promising note about the project is that Cameron is willing to let go of the past and do something new with the core elements of the franchise. That likely means the next Terminator movie is one without Arnold Schwarzenegger, as the actor has said he is done with the franchise, and these movies do need to move on from the character, as iconic as he may be.

Terminator

Movie(s)

The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Terminator Salvation (2009), Terminator Genisys (2015), Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)

Created by

James Cameron, Gale Anne Hurd

First Film

The Terminator

Latest Film

Terminator: Dark Fate

First TV Show

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Summary

The Terminator franchise is a landmark in science fiction, featuring a battle between humanity and artificially intelligent machines led by Skynet. The story primarily revolves around the Terminator robots, particularly the T-800 model, and the resistance led by John Connor. The series explores themes of fate, artificial intelligence, and the moral implications of technological advancement.

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