Terminator Salvation's Darker Alternate Ending Teased By Director McG

It's hard to imagine the Terminator franchise going even darker after the downer ending of the third film, but that's exactly what McG's "Terminator Salvation" did. Set in the post-apocalyptic times only briefly seen in the other installments, the sequel sees John Connor (Christian Bale) as the leader of the resistance against the machines. While that may sound like a compelling set-up, the film was largely rejected by critics and fans alike.

However, McG has let slip that his Terminator film could have gone even darker than it did. "There's a cut out there with an entirely different ending," he told Comic Book. "I just can't share it with the world yet. It's beyond dark." As fans might recall, "Terminator Salvation" ends with John Connor detonating a nuclear bomb and taking out a T-800 factory in the process. However, as John is fatally injured, Marcus (Sam Worthington) decides to donate his heart to the resistance leader so that he can continue his fight.

Unfortunately, that didn't match up to the emotional conclusions of the first two Terminator films. On Rotten Tomatoes, "Salvation" has a meager 33% from critics, with the consensus reading, "With storytelling as robotic as the film's iconic villains, 'Terminator Salvation' offers plenty of great effects but lacks the heart of the original films." While average viewers responded better to the project, even the audience reaction stands at a rotten 53%. Could an alternate ending improve the movie's reputation?

Considering the small hints that McG has shared regarding the alternate ending, it's possible that it could wrap up with John dying during the base operation or even Marcus betraying John and killing him.

Of course, with McG keeping his lips sealed concerning the details, we can only speculate on how dark this ending might end up going. As for the legacy of "Terminator Salvation," McG's spirits aren't broken quite yet, though it's clear that it still haunts him. "We tried hard," he recalled. "On that one, we brought in Jonah Nolan to write it; there was a writers' strike back then."

"[We] brought in Christian Bale, you can't reach much higher than that," the filmmaker went on. "We certainly gave it everything we had. A lot of people like that movie; it didn't quite do what I hoped it was gonna do, and I've been living with that wound a long time." Even still, perhaps audiences may think differently of the much-maligned film if this alternate conclusion is eventually released. Until the day when that possibility becomes a reality, however, all we can do is wonder.