It's no secret that TERMINATOR: GENISYS is the first in a planned trilogy, and while there's been tidbits dropped here and there, let's assemble a bit of what we do know along with some new information. It's worth noting that if you'd rather walk into this new trilogy blind, you'll probably want to avoid the remainder of this article.
Of course, TERMINATOR: SALVATION was once meant to be the start of something, but the box office dollars (or lack thereof) shot those dreams right out of the sky. Paramount seems to have more faith in GENISYS, however, proof of which was the two dates set aside for GENISYS' successors on May 19, 2017 and June 29, 2018, respectively. Arnold Schwarzenegger himself confirmed that he would be back shooting the sequel next year, and the plan now is to have a continuous 9-month shoot in order to get both sequels in the can. The second film in this new trilogy will also feature Miles Dyson's son as a central figure.
Speaking of characters who get bigger parts down the line, we have J.K. Simmons and Matt Smith. Simmons, as you may recall, plays an alcoholic detective who's been following the case of Sarah Connor and her terminators for 30 years. As he's previously pointed out, he plays a bit part in the first film with room for expansion. Matt Smith, on the other hand, is rumored to take a villainous turn as the "embodiment of Skynet." Arnold made mention of an "ultimate villain" that he had to fight. Could that be a reference to Matt Smith and his forehead? Definitely a possibility!
Then, of course, there's Arnold's model. We're used to seeing Arnold play the guardian role since TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY. That's certainly what we'll see him play as in the bulk of GENISYS, but as Arnold notes, it all varies depending on where we are in the timeline. He states that he's "like a combination of the characters who you have seen in the past. He is a powerful and potentially evil kind of machine that can be very destructive if I see that a there is danger from me or for the victory against the machines. I can switch over to being the protector of Sarah Connor." As you can tell, it looks like things are going to get very "timey wimey" come GENISYS.
So given the amount of time travel done, it also makes sense we're going to see a variety of Time Displacement Machines or TDMs. There will actually be three different models in GENISYS, and all three reflect the time in which they were built as well as who built them. The version we'll see in 1984, for example, will be built by the Terminator and reflect what was available at the time, including an old sewer system with refrigeration units lining the walls.
Paramount Pictures has ambitious plans for this franchise and I'm curious to see how their plans for the sequels will be affected if GENISYS doesn't bring in the dollars. As of now, the trailers paint a pretty vanilla picture of what James Cameron was able to accomplish so well with his Terminator films. In fact, it almost looks like they're taking the kitchen sink approach with GENISYS. I do love the first two Terminator films and am not opposed to more if they can bring a great story to the table. If the sequels to GENISYS are going to happen, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested in seeing where they take it. One baby terminator step at a time, though.
TERMINATOR: GENISYS hits theaters on July 1st.