James Cameron Says Terminator: Dark Fate Will Continue John Connor’s Story

Terminator: Dark Fate finally revealed its first trailer last week and it left fans wondering one thing: where is John Connor — the leader of the resistance against the eventual future war? In a recent interview on Flicks and the City (via JoBlo), returning producer James Cameron explained the film will indeed continue John’s story, though his wording was a little vague.

“I think the best way to think about Terminator: Dark Fate is to think about it as a direct sequel to Terminator 2, the third film in a series if you will. We’ll be continuing John’s story, with Sarah’s story, and the T-800 returns — a different T-800 with a very different role to play than what we’ve seen before.”

In the same interview, Cameron revealed the film will indeed be R-rated.

“I think, tonally, what makes this a direct sequel to T1 and T2 is as much about the tone as it is about the narrative: It’s R rated, it’s grim, it’s gritty, it’s fast, it’s intense, it’s very linear. The whole story takes place in 36 hours. It’s not this kind of grandiose, complex story. It’s just very focused on the characters, it’s very now, it’s very present and it’s just a fast white-knuckle ride.”

A sequel to The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day, the new film will ignore all the other movies in the franchise and picks up decades later as a new type of Terminator is sent back to terminate a new target. This new group of heroes will cross paths with Sarah Connor and the original Terminator who

Arnold Schwarzenegger will return as the titular android with a license to kill. Linda Hamilton will reprise her role for the first time in nearly 30 years. Cameron, the writer and director of the same two entries as well as Titanic (1997) and Avatar (2009) is also returning as a producer of the forthcoming film.

RELATED: The Terminator: Dark Fate Trailer is Here!

Terminator: Dark Fate has no shortage of new faces, however, Tim Miller, who is best known for directing Deadpool is stepping behind the camera for the film. Hamilton and Schwarzenegger will share the screen with Mackenzie Davis (Blade Runner 2049), Natalia Reyes (Birds of Passage) and Gabriel Luna (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.).

Terminator: Dark Fate hits theaters on November 1.