9 Sci-Fi Movie Sequels That Insulted Great Characters

Some of us never came back from Emo Peter Parker.

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20th Century Fox

The near endless possibilities offered up by sci-fi as a genre means all sorts of sequels, prequels, alternative timelines etc. are on the cards.

If done correctly, these can be a brilliant addition to a property and further flesh out characters, plot points and the world of the IP. When done badly, though, these pictures can completely undermine what has come before.

Focusing solely on characters here, however, so often sequels in particular have led to a beloved character being bastardised. Over the decades, we've seen so many sequels take all of the good work done to establish a character, and then take a giant dump all over that work in a way that completely betrays that character and the moviegoers who have invested so much time and emotion into these characters.

Again, this is something that seems painfully prevalent in the sci-fi genre - which comes hand-in-hand with the aforementioned propensity to serve up sequels. With each followup, there's always that element of risk as to whether something or someone will ultimately end up tarnished.

With all of this in mind, then, here are nine examples of great sci-fi characters who were done dirty in sequel offerings.

9. John Connor - Terminator: Dark Fate

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Warner Bros.

To be fair, you could make a very valid argument that John Connor had already been done a disservice in Terminator Genisys - that movie revealing that John was really a Terminator - but the handling of John Connor in Terminator: Dark Fate had fans rightly in uproar.

It was long known that Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger would be reprising their Sarah Connor and T-800 roles in Dark Fate, yet many were wondering whether Ed Furlong would be back as John Connor. Given how Dark Fate ignored any post-T2 entries in the franchise, it only seemed natural that John had to be a part of this most recent Terminator offering.

When news broke that, yes, Furlong would indeed be returning as John Connor, franchise fans were excited to see what role the character would have to play in Dark Fate. Unfortunately, the answer to that question came merely a matter of minutes into the movie - with a scene showing John being assassinated on a beach back in 1998.

Having waited 28 years to see Furlong return to the Terminator franchise, it was a huge slap in the face to the actor himself, the character of John Connor, and fans to see what John's ultimate fate was.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.