Terminator Genisys’ Canceled Sequel Would’ve Solved Its Biggest Mystery

Terminator Genisys canceled sequel would have answered one of its biggest mysteries – just who sent Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Guardian back in time? The first two Terminator movies helmed by James Cameron are regarded as sci-fi classics, and for good reason. Sadly, none of the four movies that have followed have come close to matching them in quality. Arguably the least loved is 2015’s Terminator Genisys, which saw Emilia Clarke’s Sarah Connor and Jai Courtney’s Kyle Reese working together to stop the launch of Skynet in the year 2017.

Terminator Genisys received largely poor reviews for its confusing story, lackluster action sequences and miscast leads. One bright spot of the sequel was the return of Arnold Schwarzenegger as The Guardian, AKA “Pops.” This model T-800 was sent back in time to protect Sarah as a girl and essentially became her father. In a rare break from the Terminator movie formula, the Guardian is still alive at the end of the movie and even received a T-1000-style upgrade to his abilities. Terminator Genisys was supposed to launch a new trilogy, but despite a solid box-office performance, the critical response suggested it was better to start fresh.

This led to Terminator: Dark Fate, which brought back the holy trilogy of Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton and creator James Cameron, who acted as producer. Dark Fate also ignored the events of Terminator Genisys, but despite sounding promising on paper, Dark Fate was another critical and commercial disappointment. Terminator: Genisys made some narrative mistakes and left lots of unresolved storylines that other entries were supposed to pick up, with the biggest mystery being who sent Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Pops back in time. This was a question intentionally left unanswered so the canceled Terminator Genisys 2 could resolve it.

In Terminator Genisys, the Guardian claims the files on who sent him back had been erased, but the movie doesn’t return to this subject. In a 2015 Gizmodo interview with screenwriters Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier, they confirmed they knew the answer and it would be featured in a future sequel. Sadly, neither have stated in the years since the sequel was canceled what the original Terminator 6 plan was. While there will likely never be a canon resolution to the question, a board game titled Terminator Genisys: Rise of the Resistance sheds some light on the subject.

Story content for the Terminator Genisys: Rise of the Resistance board game reveals that Pops was a reprogrammed T-800 liberated by John Connor’s resistance. Matt Smith’s resistance fighter Alex – who is later revealed to be the embodiment of Skynet itself – is present for this, with the implication being that he sent Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Guardian back. This means Terminator Genisys’canceled sequel could have revealed Pops was evil or Skynet had another purpose for him, but since this was a board game, it shouldn’t be taken as a definitive answer either.

About The Author

Padraig Cotter
(3501 Articles Published)

It’s pronounced Paw-rick, not Pad-raig. Now that’s out of the way, a brief introduction. Padraig has been writing about film online since 2012, when a friend asked if he’d like to contribute the occasional review or feature to their site.

A part-time hobby soon blossomed into a career when he discovered he really loved writing about movies, TV and video games – he even (arguably) had a little bit of talent for it. He has written words for Den of Geek, Collider, The Irish Times and Screen Rant over the years, and can discuss anything from the MCU – where Hawkeye is clearly the best character – to the most obscure cult b-movie gem, and his hot takes often require heat resistant gloves to handle.

He’s super modern too, so his favorite movies include Jaws, Die Hard, The Thing, Ghostbusters and Batman. He can be found as i_Padds on Twitter making bad puns.

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