Paramount has released a new Terminator Genisys, which explains how an older version of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator fits into the story. In the latest installment in the franchise, Terminators are once again sent back to kill Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) with Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) coming to the past to protect her, but there are some new twists. One of the killer Terminators sports a familiar face, and one of Sarah’s protectors has been at the job for a while.

As the new featurette explains, Skynet tried to kill Sarah’s parents, a Terminator (Schwarzenegger) came to protect her, and has served as a father figure ever since. Affectionately dubbed “Pops” by Sarah, the Guardian plays an important role in protecting her from these new threats.

While I like the explanation of how the Guardian/Pops factors into the story, this new twist raises the question of why Skynet didn’t send a Terminator into the distant past to eliminate Sarah’s bloodline at the earliest possible point? Why go after her parents when it could send someone back to her great-great-great grandparents and blow them away? I also assume we’ll discover who sent the Guardian back in time to protect her.

Check out the new Terminator Genisys featurette below. The film opens in 3D on July 1st and also stars Jason Clarke, Byung-hun Lee, J.K. Simmons, Matt Smith, Dayo Okeniyi, and Courtney B. Vance.


Here’s the official synopsis for Terminator: Genisys:

When John Connor (Jason Clarke), leader of the human resistance, sends Sgt. Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) back to 1984 to protect Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) and safeguard the future, an unexpected turn of events creates a fractured timeline. Now, Sgt. Reese finds himself in a new and unfamiliar version of the past, where he is faced with unlikely allies, including the Guardian (Arnold Schwarzenegger), dangerous new enemies, and an unexpected new mission: To reset the future…

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