12 Recent Movie Sequels That Outrageously Ruined Great Characters
8. Terminator: Dark Fate - John Connor
Here is a very, very literal character assassination for you.
To be fair, John Connor wasn't necessarily the greatest of characters per se - he is a bit annoying in Terminator 2: Judgment Day - but he's such an important part of the Terminator mythos that it would feel fair to call him the heart of the series. As such, to see him killed off by a Terminator in the opening minutes of Terminator: Dark Fate left a really nasty taste behind.
There was just something awfully cynical about the way the film casually disposed of an iconic character and then replaced him with a new one in Dani Ramos (Natalie Reyes), who becomes the leader of the Resistance in the future. Dani herself is a perfectly good character and Reyes did a solid job, but that same level of connection that was there with Sarah Connor's son didn't carry over.
On the whole, Terminator: Dark Fate is perfectly okay and it's easily the best of the post-Judgement Day Terminator movies, but it's understandable that many fans were unable to look past the ill-judged decision to kill off poor John Connor.