This TERMINATOR: DARK FATE Rumor Clarifies John Connor’s Return

Perhaps the biggest surprise to come out of SDCC yesterday was James Cameron's announcement of Edward Furlong's return to the Terminator franchise. After discussing Linda Hamilton's return as Sarah Connor in Terminator: Dark Fate, Cameron delivered the news of Furlong's involvement almost as an afterthought, offering only "Eddie Furlong is back as John." That's kind of a big deal, given Furlong's bumpy career in the years since he played John Connor in T2, as noted by our own Scott Wampler in yesterday's reporting.

As it turns out, Furlong's involvement may not be that cut-and-dry. In an extremely...odd new report, Bloody-Disgusting has it on good authority that Furlong's performance is a composite created with the aid of VFX and face-mapping – not exactly surprising coming from the cinematic world of James Cameron, who sure does love his digital toys. This is where we get into potential spoiler territory, so you might want to navigate elsewhere if that concerns you. 

According to Bloody-Disgusting's source, we will not be seeing an adult version of John Connor in Terminator: Dark Fate. As previously revealed, actor Jude Collie is playing the younger John Connor in the upcoming sequel, with Furlong's face digitally mapped onto Collie's. But Cameron and director Tim Miller didn't merely utilize existing footage of Furlong's John Connor; instead, Furlong delivered a new performance, and that footage was used to create a composite between the two actors. If that sounds weird as hell, that's because it kind of is – the amount of CGI gymnastics that would go into creating something like this is pretty fucking wild.