At 35 years of age, the “Terminator” franchise is older than I am. While most parts of the franchise have only arrived in the past 16 years, we’re all still living in the past with this one, pining for the days of “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.” Which is where “Terminator: Dark Fate” comes in.
Paramount has worked hard marketing the latest franchise film as a direct sequel to “Judgment Day,” ignoring the three sequels that have come since then following Sarah Connor’s attempts to prevent Skynet’s nuclear holocaust proved futile. James Cameron’s involvement as producer has been emphasized, and while Arnold Schwarzenegger, the longtime face of “Terminator,” remains a major presence in trailers and TV spots, the top draw this time around is Linda Hamilton, returning after 28 years to play Sarah Connor as an aging but still-formidable defender of humanity.
Now, they didn’t drop that much money on this movie as a one-off thing — Skydance clearly wants this franchise to keep going forever, and perhaps use “Dark Fate” as a launching pad for a new franchise thread focusing on Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes). They’ve definitely got some plans to keep this going.
And as we all know, big movies these days very often tease future franchise entries with a bonus scene during or after the credits — a practice that became all the rage thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So the question is whether “Terminator: Dark Fate” has any of those post- or mid-credits scenes that have become so popular.
Unfortunately for fans hoping for any extra content after the credits have stopped rolling, “Terminator: Dark Fate” has no post-credits or mid-credits scenes. Once the credits begin, that’s all there is — there’s nothing to stick around for if you need to head out.
We do, of course, encourage everybody to stick around for the credits just because a lot of folks put in a lot of work to make the movie you just saw happen. But if you need to get out of there for whatever reason, you can do so knowing that you aren’t missing out on any important extra “Terminator” content.