Margot Robbie, Henry Cavill Shock the Internet as Leads of 'Terminator' Reboot

Hollywood heavyweights Margot Robbie and Henry Cavill have shocked the internet after becoming the leads of the Terminator franchise.

This year has been rather unusual in terms of Hollywood. As it stands, only two movies have hit $1 billion at the global box office — The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) and Barbie (2023). Closely following the two smash-hits is Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer (2023), which, while popular in its own right, was catapulted to $950 million thanks to its part in the colloquially coined “Barbenheimer” weekend.

When looking at the rest of 2023’s highest-grossing movies, The Walt Disney Company and Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) lands in fourth, with Universal’s Fast X (2023) rounding out the top five.

While there are many usual suspects in this list (Marvel, Fast & Furious, for example), the real standout of the year has to be credited to Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. Thanks to a Herculean marketing effort from Warner Bros., Gerwig’s Barbie dominated news circuits and social media to become the runaway success of the year. Starring Margot Robbie as the titular Barbie, Ryan Gosling as Ken, and a plethora of A-list stars as other versions of Barbie and Ken, the movie currently stands at just short of $1.5 billion.

Robbie has long been a leading lady in Hollywood. She has appeared in numerous acclaimed roles in a variety of movies, including The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), and Babylon (2022). She is also a huge part of the DC Extended Universe thanks to her role as Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad (2016), Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020), and The Suicide Squad (2021).

Related: Marvel Attempts to Save Struggling MCU as Explosive ‘Fantastic Four’ Cast Leaks: Report

In an interesting turn of events, Margot Robbie has shocked the internet after a poster of her playing Sarah Connor in an upcoming new Terminator film went viral.

Appearing on Facebook, the poster featuring Robbie as Sarah Connor and fellow DC star Henry Cavill as the Terminator garnered a huge response. What made fans even more curious about these posters was the notion that the Terminator franchise is gearing up for a reboot sometime soon, at least according to reports. “Cameron said he’s only considering a reboot, and no decision has been made yet, but it’s too lucrative to an IP to sit fallow for long,” Forbes wrote in late 2022, following the director’s huge opening weekend for Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

The Terminator franchise began back in 1984 with the James Cameron-directed The Terminator, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as the titular killer cyborg. Sent back in time from 2029 to 1984, the unrelenting assassin seeks to kill Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor, whose unborn child will eventually go on to thwart the evil artificial intelligence, Skynet, from wiping out humanity.

The success of Cameron’s movie spawned a franchise worth $2.1 billion and included movies such as Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Terminator Salvation (2009), and the most recent entry, Terminator: Dark Fate (2019). Stars like Christian Bale, Emilia Clarke, and Claire Danes have all starred in various Terminator movies.

As for the viral posters, they came with the tag: “Get ready for this thrilling remake of ‘THE TERMINATOR,’ hitting screens in 2025! Henry Cavill takes on the iconic role, bringing a fresh intensity to the relentless cyborg from a war-torn future. With Margot Robbie as the formidable Sarah Connor, this remake promises a riveting start to a bold new chapter in the legendary franchise.”

While definitely inciting excitement over a potential reboot starring two Hollywood megastars, the posters were proven to be fake, originating from a Facebook page known for its satirical movie posters (per The Direct). The pair’s viral appearance as the new leads of this (fictional) reboot sparked much discussion online and seemingly resurrected a desire to bring the franchise back… and maybe with two new superstar leads.

Related: Confirmed: The Truth About Henry Cavill Direct From Dwayne Johnson as New Information Comes to Light

As for Henry Cavill, the star was recently ousted from the DCEU following his surprise return at the end of Black Adam (2022). Superman will move forward in the new DC Universe with David Corenswet as the last son of Krypton instead of Cavill. The beloved actor will also step down from his role as Geralt of Rivia in Netflix’s The Witcher, replaced by Liam Hemsworth as the famous monster hunter.

Up next for Cavill is a starring role in next year’s mysterious Argylle (2024) from director Matthew Vaughn.

Would you have liked to see Margot Robbie and Henry Cavill in the new Terminator movie? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!