Although theTerminatormovies introduced the definitive portrayal of Sarah Connor decades earlier, the franchise’s first stab at recasting her inTerminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicleswas surprisingly successful.TheTerminatormovieshave a knotty chronology, to put it mildly. After the events of 1984’s originalThe Terminatorand its first sequel, 1990’sTerminator 2: Judgment Day, the series frequently retconned its own events in subsequent outings. 2015’sTerminator: Genisysretconned bothTerminator: Rise of the MachinesandTerminator: Salvation, while 2019’sTerminator: Dark Fateretconned its story in turn. This makesTerminator 7’s planstough to guess.
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However, amidst all of these timeline reshuffles, theTerminatormovies have one consistent throughline. DespitetheTerminatorfranchise’s confusing timeline, Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor remains one of the most iconic action heroines in sci-fi cinema history. A resilient, tough protagonist inThe Terminator, Connor became an iconic figure inTerminator 2: Judgment Day. It is tough for any actor to seem powerful besides Arnold Schwarzenegger, but Hamilton convinced even in 2019’s otherwise misguided rebootTerminator: Dark Fate. As such, recasting this character for a reboot seems like a tall order.
Lena Headey Was A Great Sarah Connor In Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Lena Headey’s Sarah Connor Was An Original New Take On The Heroine
Despite this,theTerminatorfranchise’s mostly forgotten recasting of Sarah Connor was surprisingly successful. Beginning in 2008 and lasting two seasons, Fox’sTerminator: The Sarah Connor Chroniclesfollowed Sarah and her son John Connor as the pair tried to stop Skynet’s original creation. Years before a career-defining role as Cersei Lannister inGame of Thrones, Lena Headey impresses as a version of Sarah Connor who is recognizable, but never feels like a carbon copy of Hamilton’s original character. Headey’s take on the character is more interior, focusing on her trauma and the weight of responsibility she feels.
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This is a smart choice forTerminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, since the show has much more screen time to delve into Connors as a character. While Hamilton nails the physicality of the uber-tough heroine, she spends most of her movies in the series running, chasing, escaping, and attacking. Hamilton embodies Sarah Connor at her most ferocious, constantly battling to keep herself and her son alive, let alone save humanity from Skynet. In contrast,Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chroniclesgives Headey time to portray Connor in her downtime, revealing a sadder, more human figure.
Lena Headey Was Technically The Same Sarah Connor As Linda Hamilton In Terminator
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Didn’t Reboot The Franchise Timeline
In terms of in-universe lore,Emilia Clarke’s Sarah Connor fromTerminator: Genisysdoesn’t technically count as a recast version of Hamilton’s character. One of thebiggest problems withTerminator: Genisyswas the reboot’s bizarre timeline changes, which meant the movie ended up offering new versions of Sarah, John Connor, and Kyle Reese. As such, this wasn’t as much of a recast as it was an entire alternate version of the character. In contrast, Headey’s Sarah was supposed to be the same Sarah fromThe TerminatorandTerminator 2: Judgement Day, although the show ignores the events ofTerminator 3: Rise of the Machines.
it is impressive that Lena Headey managed to make the character of Sarah Connor her own in only two seasons of the series.
As such, Headey’s take on Sarah Connor is one of only two versions of the character. With this in mind, it is impressive that Lena Headey managed to make the character her own in only two seasons of the series.Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicleswas also an underrated series outside of Headey’s performance, as the show did an impressive job of recapturing the mood and tone of the blockbuster movies for only a fraction of their budget. Admittedly, the action sequences couldn’t match those found in James Cameron’s movies, but this was understandable.
Linda Hamilton Reprised Her Role As Sarah Connor 28 Years After Terminator 2
Terminator: Dark Fate Retconned The Sarah Connor Chronicles And Everything Else
AlthoughTerminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicleseffectively reinvented Sarah Connor’s story, this did not stop the franchise from repeatedly retconning the show’s story. First,Terminator: Genisysintroduced its new versions of Sarah and Kyle and their new timeline. Then2019’sTerminator: Dark Fatekilled off John Connorin its opening scene while he was still only a child. This proved the reboot would ignore everything that came after Terminator 2: Judgement Day, includingTerminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
Unfortunately for the creators ofTerminator: Dark Fate, changing the story of the series wasn’t enough to salvage its reputation. Despite earning an impressive 70% critical rating onRotten Tomatoes,Terminator: Dark Fatewas a disastrous box office flop that earned only $261 million on a budget of almost $200 million.Terminator: Dark Fate’s failure left the franchise in limbo, meaning future installments could bring back Headey’s character fromTerminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles if the creators of theTerminatormovies want to do something new with the material.
