When Arnold Schwarzenegger said, “I’ll be back,” people likely didn’t expect the showing that The Terminator series would experience over the years. It has stayed active since the original The Terminator in 1984, getting movies, comics, TV shows, web series, and video games. It keeps getting revived in various ways, with bigger and better things each time. Now, in 2019, the biggest resurgence yet is about to begin, and it is astonishing just how much ground will be covered. The impact on gaming and pop culture will be incredible.
Things all kick off with the most obvious project. Terminator: Dark Fate will close out 2019 with a debut on November 1, 2019. Sure, people may think. Another Terminator movie. Great. Except, this one is picking up where the last great movie, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines , left off. Forget Terminator: Genisys. That happened in an alternate reality. James Cameron, Linda Hamilton, and Schwarzenegger are all back for the movie. We have a whole new sort of advanced Terminator coming back to target someone else in the past. CGI will be used to make John Connor look like Edward Furlong and Hamilton and Scwarzenegger look like younger versions of themselves in flashbacks. It will be huge.
But leading up to that, so many games will be celebrating Terminators too. One has been confirmed, one has been teased, and the third one has been leaked so many times, it’s basically a reality. It all kicks off with Gears 5 . When the game launches in September 2019 , people will have access to a Terminator: Dark Fate character pack. This will be free with preorders or come with people who play it via Xbox Games Pass before September 16, 2019. We don’t know who exactly will be brought into the game, but the early previews shows our iconic, red-eyed, robotic “friend.”
The teased one is for Ghost Recon: Breakpoint . Heading a a mysterious island called Auroa to take down a former rogue Ghost? It’s an island where Skell Technology, a manufacturer of futuristic equipment, is stationed? Well, that certainly seems like a prime spot for Terminators too. At the very end of the E3 2019 trailer , those same, possibly comforting, glowing eyes appeared. Sure. Seems like a good place for him.
Perhaps the most fitting inclusion is a Mortal Kombat 11 debut. In April 2019, datamining suggested The Terminator would be a DLC fighter. Then, in June 2019 , a search result for the game’s official website kind of confirmed the character. Essentially, it’s happening. Which means people will get to see the robot take on all sorts of otherworldly characters. Well, and fight other robots too along the way. It’s a perfect fit.
The Terminator is going to have the best year. So many different projects are coming to fruition. A movie with the original cast members and people who matter is going to show up. Lots of major games are going to get DLC that brings the character into settings where honestly, he’ll fit pretty well. It’s going to be an amazing time for the series and a great way to introduce people to one of the best movie icons.