I’m Putting Together A Team
Sequel Soldiers - Part One
Team Two: Heroes of second installments of movie franchises that were better than the original.
Fictional heroes, villains, and everyone in between have formed unlikely alliances to answer a common calling: which group of kindred characters is the mightiest of them all? United by a shared theme, troops of four fabulous fictional characters will figuratively compete in a tournament of television, movie, and literature’s finest where only one foursome can be crowned kings and queens of popular entertainment. Join in on the roll call to learn more about these similar characters and delve into their individual histories. It's time to assemble the analogous all-stars and find out who is the best, one team at a time.
The second time's the charm for these cinematic commandos, and they have the box office blowouts to back them up. Each member of this “Part Two” party is featured in a film that is widely considered to be superior to the first. Subjectivity can sway opinions, but there is no doubt that these characters are a force to be reckoned with.
Sequel Soldiers, assemble!
1. T-800
First appearance: Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Popular entertainment of 1991:
Suburban Commando - film starring Hulk Hogan and Christopher Lloyd
Home Improvement - television series starring Tim Allen
The Firm - novel by John Grisham
The Terminator was released in movie theaters in 1984 and showcased Arnold Schwarzenegger as the titular unstoppable killing machine sent back through time to, er, terminate a young woman in order to prevent the birth of her child - a son who is fated to grow up to lead the human resistance against a ruthless army of machines that have taken over the world. In the film, Schwarzenegger plays the cold, unfeeling assassin who goes on a robotic rampage through the city while hunting for Sarah Connor (played by Linda Hamilton), the mother of the human rebellion’s savior. Sarah’s grown up son in the future, John, recruits a trusted soldier, Kyle Reese (played by Michael Biehn), to battle the T-800-model murder-bot. Kyle is hurled back through time to stop the Terminator from killing John’s mother before he can even be born.
This version of the T-800 cybernetic warrior (specifically a Cyberdyne Systems Model 101, or T-101) was destroyed at the end of the original movie, but Schwarzenegger returned for the James Cameron-directed sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day. This time Schwarzenegger portrays a different Terminator, one commandeered by the future human resistance fighters, and is thrust to the past with a special mission. Reprogrammed to protect ten-year-old John Connor (played by Edward Furlong) from another time-hopping Terminator, it must locate the boy before it’s too late. Skynet, the artificial intelligence entity that overpowers humanity in the future, develops an even deadlier model of cyber-soldier, the T-1000 (played by Robert Patrick). This shapeshifting killer travels to the past and oozes its way through the city, going on the prowl to capture and murder young John.
The heroic T-800 cyborg has its living tissue and outer flesh ripped and slashed while its leather biker attire is shredded, yet the machine powers through the damage, focused on its mission. After a series of explosive fights with the T-1000, the T-800 manages to eliminate the liquid-based Terminator. War-torn but victorious, the T-800 reveals it must also be destroyed, and a reluctant John must send the synthetic sentry into a vat of melted steel.
T2 was a runaway hit when it premiered on July 3, 1991, and maintains its massive popularity to this day. Even though more films, a television series, and a slew of novels, comic books, and videogames were subsequently released, Judgment Day is largely viewed as the best in the franchise. The Terminator itself is an intimidating foe with its metal endoskeleton and inhuman strength. Equipped with a learning computer, the T-800 can mimic voices, quickly adapt to any combat scenario, and survive time travel (staying fully clothed during the temporal process, however, is admittedly one of its weaknesses).
The Terminator, Hicks, Rambo, and Peacemaker make for an impressive party of four, but they’ll have to use their brains (or cybernetic learning computers) as well as brawn to the test if they want to be the last team standing.
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