Terminator: Dark Fate marks a decisive return to the roots of the franchise, delivering a direct continuation of the story that began with The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
Set decades after Sarah Connor successfully prevented Judgment Day, this installment ignores the alternate timelines introduced in later films and forges a new path forward, grounded in legacy, consequence, and relentless action.
Importantly, Dark Fate is not a sequel to Terminator Genisys, which existed in a separate, alternate timeline, nor does it lead to events of Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines. Instead, it stands as the true narrative successor to T2, restoring continuity and emotional weight to the saga.
Years after averting the original Judgment Day, humanity faces a new existential threat.
From the future arrives a terrifyingly advanced Terminator known as the Rev-9, programmed to eliminate Dani Ramos, a young woman destined to become a key leader of the human resistance in a coming war - not against Skynet, but a new artificial intelligence known as Legion.
Once again, fate draws Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) back into battle. Hardened by decades of loss and survival, Sarah teams up with Grace, an enhanced human soldier sent back to protect Dani, and eventually crosses paths with an aging T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) living with the weight of past actions.
Together, they confront the brutal reality that while the future can be changed, the threat of human-made annihilation never truly disappears.