TERMINATOR: DARK FATE Director Reflects on Decision to Killer John Connor

After directing the first Deadpool movie, Tim Miller jumped into the Terminator franchise alongside James Cameron to make Terminator: Dark Fate.

Dark Fate wasn’t a big hit at the box office, but it was easily one of the better Terminator films that have been made since Terminator 2 was released, and it received lots of positive reviews from fans and critics.

It was pretty cool to see original franchise stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton together on screen again. But, there were moments in the film that didn’t quite work for fans.

One of the big creative decisions that fans didn’t like is when a T-800 gunned down a young John Connor, which created a new timeline.

While talking to Variety, Miller reflected on that, saying: "Nobody sets out to disregard someone’s closely held childhood dreams. It’s no cause for vitriol. A lot of people didn’t like Terminator: Dark Fate for reasons I had nothing to do with.

“One, because it was the sixth film and another because we killed John Connor at the start, but if Jim Cameron wants that to happen – which I agree with by the way – then that’s what you do."

Cameron previously took responsibility for Terminator: Dark Fate's failings. He said: "Our problem was not that the film didn’t work. The problem was, people didn’t show up. I’ve owned this to Tim Miller many times. I said, 'I torpedoed that movie before we ever wrote a word or shot a foot of film.'"

Cameron said he started “getting high on my own supply” in creating a direct Terminator 2 sequel, and was leaning too hard into the return of Arnold Schwarzenegger's T-800 and and Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor.

He explained: "We achieved our goal. We made a legit sequel to a movie where the people that were actually going to theaters at the time that movie came out are all either dead, retired, crippled, or have dementia. It was a non-starter. There was nothing in the movie for a new audience."

Cameron is now working on a Terminator reboot that will jettison everything that came before. It will be a completely new and fresh take on the franchise.

What did you think about John Conner being killed off at the beginning of Terminator: Dark Fate?