Though there's always Wednesday's Preview Night, which launches some events and hosts screenings, the proper kick-off for any San Diego Comic-Con is Thursday, and Terminator: Dark Fate got its revelations in early, with producer James Cameron revealing that Edward Furlong will be back as John Connor.
As Dark Fate looks to re-write the Terminator chronology once again, snipping all the movies following Judgement Day from the storyline, and picking up years later, it's perhaps not too surprising to learn that Furlong's John Connor will be part of the new movie.
Cameron, who is busy working on his 537 Avatar sequels, sent a video message from his Lightstorm facility, while director Tim Miller headed to San Diego alongside stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Mackenzie Davis, Natalia Reyes, Diego Boneta, and Gabriel Luna, who plays the new, advanced Terminator this time hunting Reyes' character.
Miller made it clear he was returning the franchise to its R-rated days, "because it wasn’t always that way, and the fans kind of demanded it and the DNA of Terminator is an R-rated fuckin’ movie," adding that he has reels of footage of Hamilton dropping F-bombs even as she fires grenade launchers. Not swearing this time, though? Arnie, who said his character wouldn't use salty language because "robots don't curse". Hhhm... This scene from the originalTerminator might beg to differ.
The director and his cast brought some new footage to show, expanding on what we've seen in the trailer, including more from the freeway chase/battle, a quieter scene between Hamilton and Reyes with the former recounting her history and more about Schwarzenegger's older Terminator character, who is apparently named Carl. Why? We'll find out, but Sarah Connor is certainly not about to call him that.
Terminator: Dark Fate arrives on 23 October. There's also a new Making Of Featurette online, which you can find below. Be forewarned: it features a lot of swearing, though none of it from Arnie.