Long before there was a T-1000, Terminator 2: Judgment Day‘s original concept pit Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 against itself, kind of. While each Terminator movie has attempted to up the ante when it comes to the power and menace of its featured villain, back when 1984’s The Terminator released, it was hard to imagine an antagonist much more intimidating than the T-800. Equipped with superhuman strength, a durable endoskeleton, extensive knowledge of both weapons and where best to shoot people with them, and an endless supply of resolve to finish its mission, the T-800 was truly a terrifying foe.
As stressed to Sarah Connor by Kyle Reese, the T-800 can’t be bargained with, it can’t be reasoned with, and it absolutely will not stop until she’s dead. This emotionless killing machine was seemingly the role Schwarzenegger was born to play, and that’s meant without a hint of sarcasm or derision. Schwarzenegger was committed to the character, believing that he should come off like he actually was a machine, not simply an actor playing one. His every movement is robotic and mechanical, and every line read without a hint of human frailty.
With Terminator 2‘s introduction of the shape-shifting T-1000, the reprogrammed T-800 was placed into an unfamiliar role, that of the underdog. However, early on, director and co-writer James Cameron considered having two T-800s, both played by Schwarzenegger, battle it out for cyborg supremacy.
Terminator 2’s Original Concept Pit Good Arnie Vs Evil Arnie
When James Cameron and his writing partner William Wisher were first formulating ideas for what Terminator 2: Judgment Day would ultimately become, one of the first scenarios they considered involved Arnold Schwarzenegger returning to his iconic role from the original film, this time as a T-800 out to kill John Connor. Standing in his way would’ve been a reprogrammed T-800 like the one in the final product, also played by Schwarzenegger. That’s certainly an interesting idea, but Cameron and Wisher decided against it for a few reasons.
Cameron found the idea to be too much of a gimmick, plus he knew that pulling it off would require making the two T-800’s visually distinguishable, which he feared would require Schwarzenegger to spend countless hours in the makeup chair every day for the entire shooting schedule. Naturally, he assumed his friend and collaborator wouldn’t be pleased by that development. Additionally, Cameron and Wisher came to realize that pitting the T-800 against itself failed to raise the stakes from the first Terminator movie. The villain and the hero would be evenly matched, and thus the potential threat level and suspense factor would be greatly reduced. This was taken to heart in almost every sequel following Terminator 2 as well, as Arnold’s protective T-800 is repeatedly outmatched and outclassed by newer and more advanced Skynet models.
