'Terminator: Genisys' Trailer Shows Off Major Renovations To The Franchise

Since word one, we’ve heard that Terminator: Genisys will tinker with the franchise timeline. We’ve seen bits and pieces of this in the various TV spots and trailers, but this latest gives you your best taste of exactly how big these changes are going to be.

Depending on your stance, this is either cool and interesting, or a horrific travesty. From what we see here, this isn’t just some minor alteration of the continuity, there are major renovations going down, especially as far as John Connor’s story goes. If handled right, this could wind up being a unique take on the series, maybe even awesome (and reactions to early screenings have been positive), and this is the best trailer so far, but I’m still concerned. Then again, I’m the world’s biggest pessimist.

Here’s a synopsis:

The beginning of Terminator: Genisys, the first of three planned films that Paramount hopes will relaunch the beloved sci-fi franchise, is set in 2029, when the Future War is raging and a group of human rebels has the evil artificial-intelligence system Skynet on the ropes. John Connor (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ Jason Clarke) is the leader of the resistance, and Kyle Reese (Divergent’s Jai Courtney) is his loyal soldier, raised in the ruins of post apocalyptic California. As in the original film, Connor sends Reese back to 1984 to save Connor’s mother, Sarah (Game of Thrones‘ Emilia Clarke), from a Terminator programmed to kill her so that she won’t ever give birth to John. But what Reese finds on the other side is nothing like he expected.

More important than anything, Terminator: Genisys brings Arnold Schwarzenegger back to the fold. It’s also the beginning of a whole new trilogy, so we’ll see how it goes. The film hits theaters July 1. Check out the trailer below.