Director James Cameron originally pitched a version of The Terminator that featured both the T-800 and the T-1000 in the same movie, which would have derailed the entire sci-fi action franchise before the series even began. While there are plenty of problems with the Terminator franchise, it is hard to fault the series for its ambition. Since its inception, the Terminator movies have been pushing the limits in of what CGI and practical effects can achieve, as well as pushing the envelope when it comes to just how much confusing timeline-jumping movie fans are willing to endure.
If anything, the franchise can get too ambitious at times, with new Terminator movies needing fewer new Terminator models and more of a concentrated focus on simple, thrilling chase narratives. This issue has plagued the series since its inception, with director James Cameron’s original Terminator pitch being so ambitious that it could have doomed the entire franchise. Cameron tempered his plans due to the limitations of the technology available in the mid-80s, but this decision ended up inadvertently saving the series as a result.
Cameron famously wanted two different Terminator models to appear in the original Terminator, only for the helmer to eventually accept that this wasn’t viable. However, this would have badly derailed the rest of the Terminator series, with the T-1000’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day introduction being one of the strongest scenes in the franchise. The sequel’s choice to pit Schwarzenegger’s heroic T-800 against Robert Patrick’s newcomer the T-1000 made the Terminator movies more than a simple sci-fi horror series, and Cameron would have unintentionally ruined this setup if the original Terminator had introduced both Skynet models at the same time.
Cameron’s Original Terminator Pitch Explained
Originally, Cameron wanted both the T-800 and the T-1000 to be the dual antagonists of the original Terminator. In this version of events, they were both sent back together and would have both searched for Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese, much like Kyle Reese originally traveled through time with a partner named Sumner (whose dark Terminator death was wisely excised from the finished film). However, this idea would have killed the series before it began for numerous reasons. For one thing, the T-1000 and T-800 working together would have made their eventual rivalry less effective, and for another, the presence of two villains would have made each one seem less lethal.
Why Cameron Abandoned His Original Terminator Pitch
Cameron eventually abandoned this Terminator pitch and went with the version of the story that viewers now know, the streamlined tale of one time traveler helping an individual heroine escape a lone killer cyborg. The director realized that the technology needed to depict the T-1000’s melting metal onscreen wasn’t developed enough to use yet, leading him to wait until 1990s Terminator 2: Judgment Day to show the villain onscreen. The Terminator’s iconic crawling T-800 was an image that Cameron included in his concept art for the original movie, proving that the director had a clear vision for how the T-800 would look and how he wanted the movie to feel. As a result, it is no surprise that the helmer was able to tell his vision for the T-800 and T-1000 couldn’t be achieved onscreen in 1984, although there is no evidence that Cameron was aware this original Terminator pitch could also have disastrously derailed the overarching story of the series.
Why Cameron’s Pitch Would Have Ruined Terminator
The scariest thing about the T-800 is its dogged, single-minded determination. The villain simply will not stop, even when it is effectively dead. This was why Terminator: Salvation implying Terminators can be sentient was such a shock for many of those well-versed in the franchise, since the original movie depicts the cyborg assassin as an unthinking killing machine that cannot be reasoned with, bribed, or even distracted. This setup would have been nowhere near as effective if the T-800 was sent to the past with a backup T-1000 helping it out, as that would have proved the cyborg wasn’t the unstoppable killer it appeared to be. Equally, the terrifying effectiveness of the T-1000 would have been badly blunted if the villain needed the T-800’s assistance to hunt down Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese, whereas its depiction in Terminator 2: Judgment Day instead implies that only Sarah and the T-800 working together could stop the villain (and even then, only barely).
Why Cameron’s Pitch Would Have Ruined Terminator 2: Judgment Day
What made Arnold Schwarzenegger’s once-villainous Terminator is now a heroic figure while Patrick’s icy cool killer is a more advanced, more ruthless new villain for the sequel.
In contrast, if the first Terminator movie featured Patrick and Schwarzenegger’s two Skynet models working together, the fact that they were suddenly embroiled in battle would have seemed more like confusing in-fighting than a dramatic reversal. Meanwhile, the fact that the T-1000’s powers were far more dangerous than the T-800 would have led viewers to wonder why Skynet didn’t just send a pair of T-1000s, and the fact that a heroic T-800 could be sent to protect the Connors could have reasonably left audiences asking why the resistance didn’t send a heroic T-1000 to battle the sequel’s villain instead of a less advanced model. Luckily, these Terminator plot holes were avoided by James Cameron dropping his original idea and splitting the story between two stronger movies in the series.
