10 Movie Characters They Couldn't Stop Recasting

It's basically comical at this point how many actors have played The Terminator series' future resistance leader John Connor.

In Terminator 2: Judgment Day, a young John is played in his most iconic form by Edward Furlong, but when Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines went into production over a decade later, Furlong was dropped from the role due to his substance abuse issues.

And so, Nick Stahl was brought aboard as his replacement, but when sequel Terminator Salvation was announced, the producers decided to recast again, apparently because they envisioned a slightly older, gruffer version of John Connor in the film.

And so, Christian Bale was hired for Salvation to much initial fanfare, despite many fans ultimately expressing disappointment with both the film and Bale's so-so performance as Connor.

Between Bale's own misgivings with the film and the next movie, Terminator Genisys, largely opting to ignore it, Connor was again recast, with Jason Clarke now taking the part.

That's four major actors who've played John Connor across six Terminator films, not to mention Michael Edwards briefly playing him in one of T2's future scenes, and Thomas Dekker taking the role for the TV series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

With Terminator: Dark Fate shockingly killing John off, it seemed like the franchise was finally set to move on from him, yet given the film's atrocious box office performance, it remains uncertain what will become of both Connor and the series as a whole.