The first TV spot for Terminator Genisys was released earlier today, ahead of this weekends Super Bowl match, which may well feature a longer variation of the trailer. Most of the scenes shown, and the general flow of the new TV spot remain unchanged from the first full trailer released nearly two months ago, just in condensed form, with the new TV spot barely thirty seconds in length. However, a few select new scenes have been added which seem to focus on two elements from the movie...
Grey Haired Guardian!
After Kyle Reese is sent back to an alternate 1984, one of which he as unprepared for it seems as though he and Sarah Connor use a TDE (Time Displacement Equipment) to travel forward in time. Reportedly the year in which they appear in is 2016, though this has yet to be confirmed. The Guardian Terminator assumingly doesn't travel with them, as it seems he comes to their assistance having aged, developing grey hair, with scars presumably from his battles against Lee Byung-Hun's T-1000 and the Terminator sent to 1984 to terminate Sarah Connor.
A New Terminator?
In the new TV Spot we twice see what looks like a new Terminator. Each series of Terminator is a technological improvement over the the previous series, with each series seen thus far having been given a number...
- T-600 - Limited intelligence, rubber sheathe over titanium and steel chassis.
- T-700 - Cloned human tissue sheathe over titanium and steel chassis, powered by a hydrogen fuel cell.
- T-800 – Cloned human tissue sheathe over hyper-alloy chassis, powered by a hydrogen fuel cell and reserve heat sinks, controlled by a NNP (Neural Network Processor).
- T-850 – Upgraded T-800 with two hydrogen fuel cells and improved NNP.
- T-1000 - built entirely from a mimetic poly-alloy, capable of mimicking anything non-mechanical and non-chemical.
- T-X – An Anti-Terminator Terminator, mimetic poly-alloy sheathe over hyper alloy chassis, powered by a plasma core, on board weaponry and the ability to connect to other computer systems.
What we see in the new TV spot obviously has a chassis, but its chassis is much more anatomically correct than that of the T-800, and having a chassis discounts it being a T-1000. The T-X is very similar but there seems to be no hint of a plasma core or onboard weaponry and the chassis looks too different. From what we know about Terminator series as summarised above I am going to speculate this new Terminator is a T-900; mimetic poly-alloy sheathe over hyper-alloy chassis, hydrogen fuel cell, and NNP controlled – essentially an earlier version of the T-X.
Final Thoughts
It was reported last year that franchise creator James Cameron gave David Ellison the idea that a Terminators human tissue sheathe could age, allowing writers Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier a feasible means by which to allow Arnold Schwarzenegger, now 66 years old, to return in the role he made famous 31 years ago. While man fans of the franchise will be glad that Cameron has, in some small way, had input into the movie one has to ask why the writers couldn't have come up with the idea themselves; after all it is in their job description to do so. As for having an aged Terminator on screen; while I am not against the idea it does have me a little worried for the intensity of the action on screen. Casting a younger actor to help spearhead their reset of the franchise would have made more sense, and would've given hardcore fans of the franchise the ability to call the planned reset trilogy as a spin-off from the original franchise. Arnold's inclusion in the cast complicates matters should this movie fail to adhere to the fragile timeline scaffolding that has been struggling to hold up the franchise so far.
As for this new Terminator, I am intrigued. The trailer seems to infer that it becomes an adversary for our trio of heroes in the future (2016), and the trailer also seems to be hiding the identity of the actor whom will play this new Terminator. Could this be former Doctor Who Matt Smiths mystery character? Though it has to be said, that while having this new Terminator emerge from a tunnel surrounded in flames does look pretty badass, it is yet another example of what seems to be this movies habit - recycling of old imagery.
