Action Movies

The fourth Terminator movie will soon be released and, as many people already know, some of your favorite characters are returning, some are notably absent, and some are brand new. What makes Terminator Salvation distinct is that many of the returning characters will be played by a completely different set of actors. Find out who is back, who’s not, and who has taken over these famous roles.

The Terminator Characters You Need to Know

Skynet

Though Skynet may not be an actual person, it is still a very important character in the Terminator series. Without an understanding of Skynet, you simply won’t understand the rest of the characters and their purpose in each movie. Skynet is the artificially intelligent computer who, sometime in the not so distant future, is trying to destroy all of humanity. To do so, it has created deadly cyborg assassins, known as terminators to the human race. Skynet does everything it can to use these terminators to kill the leader of the human resistance movement: John Connor.

John Connor
John Connor is the reason for every Terminator movie, even if he doesn’t actually appear in the first one. In the first movie, a terminator is sent back in time by Skynet to kill the mother of John Connor, Sarah Connor, before John is even born. In the two sequels that follow, more terminators are sent back in time, to both kill and protect him. Terminator Salvation veers away from the time travel story line and is already set in the future, but takes place before John has become the leader of the resistance. Christian Bale appears in the role of John Connor for the first time, following in the footsteps of Edward Furlong in T2 and Nick Stahl in T3.

Kate Connor
Kate Connor first appeared in T3 as John Connor’s love interest when she was still known as Kate Brewster and the role was played by Claire Danes. Now played by Bryce Dallas Howard, Kate has evolved from a veterinarian to a doctor, is now John’s wife, and is seven months pregnant.

Marcus Wright
Marcus Wright is a new character for the Terminator series, being played by Australian actor, Sam Worthington, who will be a new face for American audiences. All that we know about this character is that he will become a part of the resistance, but he has a mysterious background. The only thing Marcus can remember is being on death row and no one can figure out if he comes from the past or the future. What we do know is that he is sure to be pivotal to the plot of Terminator Salvation, and Sam Worthington will soon be known all over the world.

Kyle Reese
Fans of the first film will recognize the character of Kyle Reese as the man who went back in time to save Sarah Connor and who is John’s father. Originally played by Michael Biehn, Kyle’s role has been taken over by Anton Yelchin. Because Terminator Salvation takes place well before Kyle was sent back in time, he is still a teenager in this film and looks up to John. Does he know that he’s John’s father? You’ll have to watch the movie to find out.

T-800

You can’t talk about characters in a Terminator film and not talk about the T-800. The T-800 is the original Terminator made famous by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Rumors abound that Arnold will be making a cameo appearance in the new movie, but this T-800 is being played by Roland Kickinger.

The Terminator Characters You Won’t Be Seeing

Sarah Connor
Though every Terminator movie has been about protecting John Connor, Sarah is the Connor who started it all. You won’t be seeing Sarah in this film, but supposedly there will be a voice over by the only actress who has ever played Sarah in the movies, Linda Hamilton.

T-1000
The T-1000 was the more advanced model of the terminator that appeared in T2 and was played by Robert Patrick. The T-1000 won’t be appearing this time around, but it is rumored that he may appear in the next installment.