The Terminator Easter Egg You Never Caught In Alita: Battle Angel

Robert Rodriguez's Alita: Battle Angel is a rare manga-inspired film that actually improves on the anime version on many fronts. While the movie didn't exactly rule the box office, it certainly made a lasting impression on its adoring fans. The "Alita Army," as the film's most ardent aficionados call themselves, have been actively rooting for a sequel, and their enthusiastic Twitter campaign actually managed to make Cinemark promise to bring Alita: Battle Angel back to theaters. It's no wonder that Alita has plenty of fans, either. The movie is a wild, entertaining sci-fi romp with some truly stunning visuals and intense action. It's a gift that keeps on giving — and as icing on the awesomeness cake, there's also the occasional, cool hidden detail that it's almost impossible to notice during the first viewing. 

For instance, did you know that the makers of this cybernetic organism epic included a sly reference to the granddaddy of all cybernetic organism epics — that is, the Terminator franchise? 

Here's the Terminator-themed Easter egg you never caught in Alita: Battle Angel.

Alita: Battle Angel isn't happy with just hiding a Cyberdyne Systems logo on some barely visible robot part on the background, or even the appearance of Terminator: Genisys veteran Jai Courtney, who cameoed in Alita: Battle Angel as the lethal motorball champion Jashugan. 

Instead, the movie actually shows us the classic T-800 terminator ... though, unfortunately, he's not played by Arnold Schwarzenegger this time. 

On a Reddit thread discussing the movie, user Scifisculptor noted that the classic Terminator design can quickly be seen in the scene where Alita watches motorball from the stands. According to them, the person portraying this unusually cheerful version of the legendary character is Chris Wolters, who is dressed in the T-800's iconic biker garb and even has the famous, robotic endoskeleton hand. 

What's more, Redditor gtr427 points out this isn't the only time T-800 — or rather, parts of it — can be seen in Alita: Battle Angel: "Ido also picks up a T-800 arm at the beginning before he finds Alita," they write. "I believe it's a replica the prop fabricator built himself and used as his resume to get hired to work on the movie."  

All in all, it's pretty neat of Alita: Battle Angel to pay homage to one of the greatest cyber-characters in all of fiction. Now, one can't help but wonder what other cinematic Easter eggs the movie might be hiding.