The Doctor Vs. Skynet! Matt Smith Joins TERMINATOR GENESIS

Doctor Who star Matt Smith has switched up one time travel franchise with another. It’s been announced that the former Eleventh Doctor will join the cast of Terminator Genesis as “a new character with a strong connection to John Connor.” Deadline states that his role will grow in the second and third films. Smith joins Emilia Clarke (Sara Connor), Jason Clarke (John Connor), Jai Courtney (Kyle Reese), Dayo Okeniyi (Danny Dyson, son of Miles Dyson), J.K. Simmons, body builder Aaron Williamson (a T-800) and Arnold Schwarzenegger (back as a Terminator).

I won’t lie, I was excited when I learned this. Emilia Clarke is phenomenal on Game of Thrones and of course Arnold is a legend (I haven’t seen the other actors in anything), but Doctor Who is my jam! His seasons may not have been perfect, but Smith was, to use one of his predecessor’s catchphrases, fantastic.

However, it’s not just pumped because Smith played one one my favorite Doctors. My worry after he left the show was that he would be typecast, which is one of the worst things he can do. Luckily, that doesn’t look like that will happen. He played Patrick Bateman in the American Psycho musical, he starred in Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut Lost River and now he’s joining one of the most famous film franchises. That kid’s going to be okay.

As for his character, there’s not much to go on other than he has a connection with John Connor. But which one? The young one that Sara is trying to protect, or the resistance leader in the future? Will Smith be a mentor to the young Connor or be one of the older Connor’s lieutenants?

Personally, I don’t think it’s either. I think that they’re doing a franchise crossover and bringing back the Eleventh Doctor for one last hurrah. Eleven will land on Earth in 1984 and help Sara and Kyle destroy the assassin Terminator. Then he’ll travel to 1995 to check on them, and this time help Sara, John and the reprogrammed Arnold Terminator destroy the T-1000. Finally, he’ll travel forward in time to the apocalyptic Earth and find that saving John Connor didn’t do anything. So he’ll just do some timey-wimey stuff in the TARDIS and fix everything (while quipping about how primitive Skynet’s time travel technology is). There may be a couple paradoxes, but it always works out.

Or…he could just be playing an original character. That would probably be more interesting (but less fun for my fanboy brain).

SOURCE: Deadline