The Terminator: Dark Fate panel is underway at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con and producer James Cameron has dropped a couple bits of fascinating information. First up, he says that Edward Furlong is on board to return as John Connor.

This will mark the first time in the Terminator film that an actor has played the role of Connor more than once. Furlong, who played the character first in Terminator 2: Judgment Day was followed by Nick Stahl in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Then Christian Bale took over the role in Terminator Salvation. And as recently as 2015, Jason Clarke played John Connor in Terminator Genisys. What’s surprising is that while other movies have relied on John Connor as a pivotal savior figure, I have tough time imagining that Furlong will be a major role in Dark Fate unless his character is some kind of MacGuffin or squirreled away in hiding only to be revealed for a nice cameo.

The other major bit of news is that Dark Fate will be rated “R”. A Terminator movie hasn’t been rated “R” since 2003’s Rise of the Machines with Salvation and Genisys both earning PG-13 ratings that didn’t really help their box office or reception. While I don’t think a Terminator movie necessarily needs to be rated R, but it makes sense since the most successful entries (the first two movies) carried an R-rating. That being said, R-ratings are no sign of quality; they’re just a sign that “Fuck” was uttered more than once and that there’s some bloodshed and/or nudity.

What do you think about Furlong returning to the Terminator franchise? Are you glad that Dark Fate has an “R” rating? Sound off in the comments.

Terminator: Dark Fate opens November 1st and stars Linda Hamilton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mackenzie Davis, Natalia Reyes, Gabriel Luna, and Diego Boneta.

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Image via Skydance Productions and Paramount Pictures
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Image via Skydance and Paramount

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