I don’t normally think of Terminator as being a very emotionally expressive franchise, but there’s something haunting about this great storyboard.
A couple days ago, James Cameron celebrated his birthday, and to commemorate the occasion, Terminator star, former governor, and now again Terminator star Arnold Schwarzenegger shared a piece of storyboard art created by Cameron for the first Terminator all the way back in the ‘80s. And honestly it’s pretty captivating.
Happy birthday to my dear friend, the great visionary @JimCameron. As you know, @Terminator changed my life. You are a big reason that I can never call myself self-made. This early storyboard you drew for Terminator reminds me of your big vision, and I cherish it. pic.twitter.com/nexZJIGIuy
— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) August 16, 2019
Cameron captures something moody and kind of sad about this killing machine, as he goes about an act of self-repair. He’s, here, a haunting sort of villain, stern and implacable. Also, I didn’t know James could draw like that, which is fairly impressive in and of itself. It makes the move from killer to protagonist a little less surprising. Even at his most threatening, there’s something kind of sympathetic about this frowning robot, shackled to his directives? It’s a strong vision.
The next iteration of that character is coming in Terminator: Dark Fate, which wipes away the continuity after Terminator 2 to tell a new story in the well-worn universe. It comes out October 31.