James Cameron is beholden to no one and doesn’t give a fuck, and that’s so punk rock I can’t help but be jealous of his position and power.

As all (should) know, Cameron not only directed Aliens but he also helmed The Terminator (1984) and its epic sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). While he came aboard the Alien franchise that was created by Ridley Scott and Dan O’Bannon, he created Terminator, which continued forth without him over the course of several sequels, a television series, and a ridiculously cool 4-D theme-park attraction (at Universal). While his attention is turned towards his Avatar sequels, Cameron is just a mere year and a half away from regaining the rights to the Terminator franchise. This means that he can do whatever the hell he wants with it and nobody can stand in his way. In fact, he’s already talked about a planned revival with plans on having Deadpool‘s Tim Miller directing. What he didn’t tell us is that his plans are to “reinvent” the franchise in a new trilogy.

In a new interview with News.com.au, Cameron reveals the genesis of the new Terminator concept and how that return might span three films.

“The question is — has the franchise run its course or can it be freshened up?,” says Cameron, out promoting the 3D release of T2. “Can it still have relevance now where so much of our world is catching up to what was science fiction in the first two films. We live in a world of predator drones and surveillance and big data and emergent AI (artificial intelligence).

“So I am in discussions with David Ellison, who is the current rights holder globally for the Terminator franchise and the rights in the US market revert to me under US copyright law in a year and a half so he and I are talking about what we can do. Right now we are leaning toward doing a three-film arc and reinventing it.

“We’ll put more meat on the bones if we get past the next couple of hurdles as and when we announce that.”

But here’s the kicker, Cameron reveals that he doesn’t like any of the Terminator sequels and was giving his endorsement as a friendly gesture to Arnold Schwarzenegger.

“I think it’s fairly widely known that I don’t have a lot of respect for the films that were made later,” Cameron says. “I was supportive at the time in each case for Arnold’s sake because he is a close friend. He has been a mate of mine since 33 years ago so I was always supportive and never too negative. But they didn’t work for me for various reasons.”

We learned a lot in this interview. The big reveal is that Cameron plans to work with the current rights holder on reinventing the franchise with commentary on modern technology. He doesn’t like any of the sequels beyond T2, which means this will be a fresh start. Lastly, he’s so loyal to Arnold that he’d lie about liking a film to millions of people to support him. The bond is clearly so strong we could see Arnold returning in some capacity.

Look for an alleged major announcement later this summer, although I think the plans are as clear as day.

The Terminator will be back, and surely the title will be Terminator.