Terminator Salvation‘s human Terminator hybrid, Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) began his journey as a convicted man, but what was he convicted of, and did he really deserve ‘salvation’?
Even though 2009’s Terminator Salvation was rated PG-13, it presented us with, quite possibly, the darkest human character to ever grace the Terminator franchise. Marcus Wright is a character who donated his body to Cyberdyne Systems Genetics Division and was then transformed into a half man, half machine, hybrid Terminator.
The character was played by Sam Worthington; an actor who was suggested to Terminator Salvation’s director McG by series creator James Cameron. It was an opportunity to give Mr. Worthington some much needed exposure before the release of Avatar, but nevertheless it was an interesting recommendation, and one which McG listened to.
As stated, Terminator Salvation was PG-13 – the reasoning as to why Marcus Wright was sentenced to death was briefly skimmed over in the movie in a conversation with Dr. Serena Kogan (Helena Bonham Carter) where Marcus says…
“You know what I did. My brother and two cops are dead because of me.”
Marcus Wright
The incident which led to the deaths of these three people was murder, the culprit being Marcus Wright, with the bulk of the information being left to discover via SkyNet’s data files when Marcus logs into SkyNet’s database and security defence system. The information flashes by so quickly that you literally have to pause the movie to read it.
The Reason Marcus Wright Was On Death Row
A news article reveals…
“Convicted murderer, Marcus Wright, was sentenced to death last Monday after he was found guilty for the murder of his brother, Sam Wright. Sam was found fatally stabbed repeatedly throughout his body, intense trauma to all major organs resulted in a quick death. The reason for what prompted Marcus to initiate such a vicious attack is still not known, as Marcus did not reveal to police or reporters the reason behind the senseless violence. Marcus Wright seemed un-remorseful the entire duration of his time in prison, and even up until the last minutes before the needle was inserted into his vein he showed little to no compassion for the brutal crime he had committed. However, underneath the cold exterior of a soulless murderer there was a sense of redemption as Marcus accepted an offer from Dr. Serena Kogan, Founder, to donate his body to scientific experimentation after his death. His body was transferred to Cyberdyne/Skynet Corporations last Tuesday.”
News Article From Terminator Salvation
Dr. Serena Kogan led the Genetics Division for Cybernetic research at Cyberdyne Systems. When Cyberdyne Systems was purchased by the U.S.A.F. Dr. Kogan’s research facility folded into the armed forces branch known for SkyNet. ‘Project Angel’ was the name given to the top secret program that would create human hybrids. Once SkyNet was fully self-aware it saw Project Angel (an experimental program previously run by humans) as a good way to potentially create the perfect infiltrator. Marcus Wright was the perfect infiltrator human / hybrid who led John Connor and the Resistance to SkyNet in the year 2018, the same year that the T-800 would later be created and put into mass production.
The fourth Terminator movie was Marcus Wright’s ‘Salvation’ but do you, as the viewer, think that he deserved to be saved after killing his brother in such a brutal way (and the two cops that likely attended an emergency call)?
Let us know what you think in the comments below.
