Terminator: Genesis: Schwarzenegger Explains Aging Cyborgs, Plus A Casting Rumor

By Nick Venable | Updated 6 months ago

Much of what we now know about Paramount’s upcoming sequel Terminator: Genesis is limited to casting and timeline. But the casting isn’t complete, and the story’s intrinsic time travel element could make a central timeline irrelevant. At least we do know that Arnold Schwarzenegger will be back, and he may be joined by an Attack the Block actor, up for a potentially lucrative role. More on that in a bit.

First, Schwarzenegger spoke with MTV News about his return to the franchise that made him a household name. One thing that’s been on our minds since he signed on for the flick is whether or not heavy makeup or CGI would be used to make the 66-year-old actor appear closer to how he looked in the first three entries in the series. As it happens, neither of those will happen, and the actor’s age isn’t even an issue.

“The way the character is written,” he explains, “it’s a machine underneath. It’s this metal skeleton. But above that is human flesh. And the Terminator’s flesh ages, just like any other human being’s flesh. Maybe not as fast. But it definitely ages.” Now, it only takes a cursory look back at previous films to see that some pretty unbelievable shit was done to “human skin,” but I prefer them copping out via explanation rather than not referring to it at all.

Amazingly enough, Schwarzenegger won’t even be the only version of the T-800 we see, as the actor reveals there will also be a younger model. Its part of the plot involves “what that model does later on when it gets reprogrammed, and who gets ahold of him,” he said, adding there will be “all kinds of interesting twists in the movie.” All of a sudden I’m way more interested in this flick. Watch him say these things himself in the clip below.

And now onto the casting. A THR writer took to Twitter to reveal Paramount’s interest in adding Attack the Block‘s John Boyega to the cast as the son of Dr. Miles Dyson, played by Joe Morton in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Don’t ask us how Dyson’s son would fit into the plot though, because we’re clueless.

Boyega is also on the shortlist for a role in J.J. Abrams’ upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII, which will no doubt have precedence if the decision was the actor’s choice. But these things are all up to the studios, so we’re just hoping Boyega makes it into at least one of 2015’s biggest sci-fi blockbusters.