FIRST LOOK: The Women of the Untitled Terminator Movie

After many failed attempts, both in theaters and on television, creators have really failed to capture the magic of the original Terminator movies.  Could that be getting ready to change?  Today, Paramount Pictures released this first look at the women of the currently untitled Terminator movie project.  Pictured from left to right we see Natalia Reyes as “Dani Ramos”, Mackenzie Davis as “Grace” and Linda Hamilton as “Sarah Connor”. Seeing Hamilton back is already enough to give fans some hope.  Along with Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Cameron, she has been a cornerstone and THE female face of the franchise from the beginning.  So, what does this image really tell us?

To me, this is a clear message that the franchise is being taken in a much different direction than we have seen in recent years.  Just at a first glance, Grace certainly has a resemblance to Sarah Connor, doesn't she?  Various reports also say that Dani Ramos will actually be playing the lead in this new version.  There never really seemed to be a passing of the torch moment in this franchise from Hamilton to the next generation, and I think that was certainly owed.  It's hard to know if that will happen here at some point, but you can't just expect fans to ignore the past entirely.  You can't simply replace Sarah Connor, no matter how good the actress may be, because true fans will always go back to Hamilton until they are given a reason to movie on.

It also looks like the idea that a movie like this can get by just loading up on testosterone and killer robots may be over.  Clearly that isn't what audiences wanted anymore, so this may be an indication that everyone involved has learned from their mistakes.  I'm not saying we won't see Arnold doing his thing, or a strong male presence in the reboot (you don't bring in Gabriel Luna for no reason), but I think Cameron always realized that Sarah Connor was just as important as the Terminator himself in those original movies.  You also bring in Tim Miller to direct, a guy who has proven with the Deadpool movies that he knows how to honor the history of the characters he is working with.

More of a focus on the amazing female presence in this franchise, along with blending the old with the new, is a reason why this new reboot could really work.  You should never forget where you came from, and that's what recent Terminator sequels seemed to do.  If they honor the past to actually have a future, there may be hope for the resurrection of the Terminator franchise.  We will find out when the untitled Terminator movie opens in theaters on November 22nd, 2019.