Merrick here...


One of the biggest questions swirling around TERMINATOR SALVATION (other than "Is McG up to the job?" and "Why McG?") has been: how are they going to deal with T-800 character Arnold portrayed in the first three films? Would he/it appear at all? If so, would he/it be a CGI Arnold, an actual cameo by Arnold himself, or...what?

Now we have that answer, thanks to an article published yesterday in the Clinton News Record. Seems the role has been recast & will be assumed by another Austrian bodybuilder named Roland Kickinger.

Kickinger has numerous credits under his belt (ranging from LETHAL WEAPON 4 to HOME IMPROVEMENT to...believe it or not..TEAM KNIGHT RIDER) and once trained with Schwarzenegger - even playing him in a recent A&E biopic.

SPOILERS BELOW!!!

This month, however, Kickinger begins filming what is likely the role of his life to date, as his portion of Terminator Salvation begins to take shape.

“There’s a very strong scene in the film where John Connor for the first time meets the Terminator, and he doesn’t know if he’s a good guy or a bad guy,” said Kickinger.

“It’s Arnold’s character in the first Terminator. That’s basically my role, but 20 years before, so it establishes how the Terminator [came] about.”

...says the Clinton News Record piece, which you can find HERE.

We've heard off again/on again indications that Kickinger might/would assume Arnold's role for the last few weeks, but to the best of my knowledge this is the closest thing to an official confirmation we've received to date.

You can find Roland's official website HERE

Tanks to The Pezzinator for pointing us towards this.