Fan artist Paul Chadwick uses AI to create images of Dwayne Johnson replacing Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, along with adding other stars to the franchise.
The Terminator franchise has never quite managed to recapture the magic of the original James Cameron movies, but with the right cast and right director, there’s always a chance that it could live up to its former glory. Digital artist Paul Chadwick decided to take a bold stab at the potential cast for a reboot with AI images to match, and his choices are pretty solid (via Fortress of Solitude). For one of the most important casting decisions, he decided to replace Arnold Schwarzenegger with Dwayne Johnson as the T-800 Terminator we all know and love:
Credit: Paul Chadwick
Casting Dwayne Johnson as Arnie’s Terminator seems like a perfect fit, as they’re both muscly action stars who would have the build and screen presence to play a deadly robot. As for Kyle Reese, Chadwick decided to go with a younger-looking version of Keanu Reeves to replace the role played by Michael Biehn. While this is dream-casting, so anything goes, Reeves might be just a touch too old to play the futuristic rebel at this point:
Credit: Paul Chadwick
As for who would play opposite Dwayne Johnson’s foe-turned protector Terminator as Sarah Connor, Chadwick decided to go for the realistic choice of Jennifer Lawrence. Sarah Connor has been played in previous movies by Linda Hamilton and then Emilia Clarke in Terminator Genisys, and Lawrence would be a great replacement in a reboot. She has that perfect mix of dramatic chops and action experience to pull off Connor:
Credit: Paul Chadwick
While Dwayne Johnson has the bulk to play the T-800 Terminator, someone lither would need to replace Robert Patrick as the fearsome T-1000. For that role, Chadwick decided to go with Tom Hiddleston. While Hiddleston has played the charming villain before, it would be interesting to see him take on the role of a more intimidating, single-minded character:
Credit: Paul Chadwick
Finally, Chadwick decided to cast Tom Holland in the role of John Connor, who has been played by more actors than the other characters in the series. We’ve seen Connor played by Edward Furlong, Michael Edwards, Nick Stahl, and Christian Bale. Having Holland opposite Dwayne Johnson in a Terminator reboot would certainly help to maximize star power in the cast list:
Credit: Paul Chadwick
So there you have it, that’s your perfect cast for a reboot (at least according to one person). Dwayne Johnson, Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Lawrence, Tom Hiddleston, and Tom Holland in a Terminator reboot certainly sounds like a good time, but it also seems pretty unlikely. After the most recent film in the franchise flopped critically and commercially, it might be a while before we see a proper reboot come to fruition.
It’s also possible that Dwayne Johnson’s name might not be brought to the table for a potential Terminator reboot, considering his recent history of not playing nice with franchise roles. Johnson is typically box office gold for action films, but the handling of Black Adam and his time at DC was reportedly tumultuous. Plus there’s the fact that Johnson is always pretty busy with multiple other films and may not have the time.
We may never see Dwayne Johnson as the Terminator, but it’s still cool to see what that might look like. If you want to see Johnson’s next film, you can catch Red One sometime in 2023. Stay tuned for more news on Johnson and his upcoming projects.
