Remember the original Kyle Reese's (Michael Biehn) sweet, sweet Nike kicks from the first Terminator movie? Well good news, they'll be back.


Earlier this year, we were invited to visit the Terminator Genisys set. Unfortunately, we can't say beans about it yet because we're embargoed. However, we do have one delicious nerdy bit that we can break off for you, specifically about those excellent '80s sneakers. If you noticed in the trailer, new Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) is running around the same department store from the original film (where he stole the Nike Vandals). And if you noticed in the Entertainment Weekly photoshoot, Courtney can be seen in that same legendary duster and strikingly similar tennis shoes.


How did Terminator Genisys get their hands on these kicks? Not easily, costume designer Susan Matheson basically hounded Nike for months until they agreed to stop production and remake the Vandals from scratch. On set, Matheson explained her passionate mission:

"Nike wanted me to design an ID, like something, using the Air Force One base. But I'm a sneaker person and I know every single base of every sneaker. The Air Force One base is not the same as a Nike Vandal." "So I said, 'No. I'm not going to do that. I need you to make me the real sneaker... Everybody watching this movie is going to know if it's the real sneaker or the non-real sneaker.' Anyone who is a fan of Terminator knows that sequence and knows the photo booth, and knows him grabbing the jacket, and knows that he's taken the pants off the bum in the alley. We all know this, because I've watched this movie in slow motion frame by frame over and over and over. This is the entire reason I went into moviemaking, was a combination between Terminator and Mad Max. Those two movies made me decide that I wanted to do costumes. So for me, if I can't give you the real sneaker, then I might as well not do the movie, right?"

EXACTLY RIGHT. Hell yes, Matheson. And that's exactly what happened. Nike shut down production and made an exact original replica of the Vandals, specifically for Terminator Genisys. Matheson called it her "single greatest moment on this entire movie." And we'll admit, it's a pretty great moment for us too.

Now if Matheson could just get Nike to re-issue the Vandals... that would be tops.


Here's another SWEET shot of these bad boys.


Once the embargo lifts, we'll have plenty more to tell you about the Terminator Genisys set and what we learned about the new film.

And because I love you guys, here's the shoe scene, just for funsies and Michael Biehnsies.