Author: Nick Stahl

The future has not been written. There is no fate but what we make for ourselves. I wish I could believe that. My name is John Connor, they tried to murder me before I was born, when I was 13 they tried again. Machines from the future. Terminators.
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Underground Usurper

Scene: “The Usurper” – A Behind-the-Scenes Showdown

INT. SOUNDSTAGE – NIGHT. Smoke curls in the air. The faint hum of a generator mixes with the echo of metallic footsteps. NICK STAHL storms in, agitated. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER sits calmly on a folding chair, cigar in hand. JOSEPH C. JUKIC (“JCJ”), the new John Connor, is off-camera, checking lighting on a prop rifle.

NICK STAHL
(angry, pointing)
Arnold, what’s going on here? Who is this guy? This Joseph Jukic? He’s an usurper! A smoker, too! You know what they say—smokers are jokers!

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER
(takes a slow puff, smirks)
Nick… you sound jealous. He may smoke, but at least he doesn’t choke.

NICK STAHL
Come on! You can’t just swap me out like that. I was John Connor! I am the resistance!

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER
(shrugs)
Resistance is good. But change is… inevitable.
(pauses)
And listen carefully, Nick — stay away from my stogie. I earned this one in the jungle before you were born.

NICK STAHL
(gritting teeth)
You’re serious? You’re backing him? The guy’s from East Van, not the future!

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER
(leans forward, eyes glinting)
As long as JCJ stays hard-drug-free, he is my man. No more Hollywood rehab stories. I need a fighter, not a headline.

Nick’s shoulders slump. The hum of the machines fills the silence. Arnold rises, places a heavy hand on Nick’s shoulder.

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (cont’d)
Remember, Nick — in this war, there is no fate but what we make.
(beat)
And Joseph C. Jukic just made a better one.

Arnold walks toward JCJ, cigar smoke trailing behind him like steam from a terminator core. Nick watches, defeated, as the camera pans to the glowing “TERMINATOR: RESURRECTION” banner hanging above the set.

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The Day That Never Comes

By John Connor (Nick Stahl)

Judgment Day. The nightmare that haunted my every step, the shadow cast over my entire life. The day the world was supposed to end in nuclear fire. But here I stand, in a world that still spins, skies still blue, cities still standing. Not because fate was kind, but because fate was never set.

I remember when Arnold—our T-800, our guardian, our machine-turned-messiah—stood at Bohemian Grove in 2010 and gave his no fate speech. Among the firelit elites who play at gods, he reminded them they were just men. That no algorithm, no nuclear doctrine, no shadow government decree had the right to end us.

And I remember Vancouver, the Winter Olympics, 2010. A torch passed—not just in flame, but in destiny. Arnold to Joseph Christian Jukic. JCJ. A new John Connor, a new leader for a world that still needed one. I didn’t know what it meant at the time, but looking back, I do. The resistance isn’t just in the future. It’s here, now.

And for that, I am full of gratitude.

I get to play John Connor, forever. Thanks to JCJ, this site, this digital fortress, the Terminator cast has a home. A place to remember, to fight, to exist beyond the confines of Hollywood. Judgment Day was averted, and so was our erasure.

No fate. No nuclear fire. Just another dawn, another chance.

The day never came.

And I thank God for that.