Terminator 2's 'Boring' Sequel Idea Would Have Been A Schwarzenegger Overload
When it comes to great movie sequels, you can't get any better than "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." Director James Cameron evolved the original "Terminator" with the same basic concept he utilized following the original "Alien" by taking a solid horror flick and altering its genre to more of an action thriller with surprisingly strong results. "T2" is now the standard for which all "Terminator" films (and shows) are judged against, and it's arguably Cameron's strongest film.
A big part of the movie's success is its willingness to change things up from the original. Sarah Connor is a very different character, for instance, but she's different in a way that makes perfect sense given what happened to her in the original. Most notably, this film lets Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator be the good guy this time around; it makes for not just a fun twist but gives him a compelling new dynamic with Sarah, who understandably takes a while to fully trust him.
But Cameron's original idea for "T2" was pretty different, and a lot less promising. "I basically had two competing ideas," he said in a 2021 Ringer interview. "One was Skynet sends a terminator, another Arnold terminator, to take out John [Connor], and the resistance sends one that's been reprogrammed, that would've been Arnold too. So Arnold would become a dark hero character, obviously." In other words, the movie would've been about one Arnold Schwarzenegger protecting John and Sarah, and another Schwarzenegger trying to kill them.
Two Schwarzeneggers: not as silly as it sounds
"Having Arnold fight another Arnold is just boring. Boring, boring, boring," said co-writer William Wisher. Although we don't disagree, Cameron's full idea wasn't that different from what we got. "When I first conceived the story idea, it was in two parts," Cameron said. The first part would've featured Schwarzenegger v. Schwarzenegger, and the second half would switch to the basic "T2" story we're familiar with. As Cameron explained further:
"The protector crushes [the bad Terminator] under a truck or throws him through some big gear structure or machine. And then, up in the future, they realize the ripples of time are progressing toward them. They still haven't won the battle. [Skynet would] think long and hard about pulling the trigger on sending the experimental, one-off super weapon that they've created, that even they're terrified to use. I didn't call it the T-1000 — it was just a liquid metal robot."
Cameron ended up taking the best of both ideas, bringing in the terrifying upgraded Terminator as well as Arnold playing a good robot. "I merged the two ideas," he said. "Instead of Arnold versus Arnold, it was Arnold versus the scary liquid metal weapon." It's the decision that allowed Robert Patrick to amaze audiences as the new T-1000 while avoiding any of the potential confusion that comes with two terminators that look basically the same.
The result was an absurdly suspenseful, entertaining thriller, and the most beloved entry in the entire franchise. Watching two Schwarzeneggers fight each other might've been fun for a scene or two, but given how great the alternative turned out, it seems clear that Cameron and Wisher made the right decision.