"I know there was kind of a challenging calculus going on in the heads of those who market this thing to decide that this was the right thing to do," he said. "I think they felt like they had to send a strong message to a very wary audience that there was something new, that this was going to new territory. They were concerned that people were misperceiving this as kind of a reboot, and none of us wanted to reboot two perfect movies by James Cameron. I think they felt they had to do something game-changing in how the film was being perceived."

When Connor appeared in Genisys, Taylor said, "I certainly directed those scenes with the intention that no one would know. One of my favorite moments — and I think Jason Clarke did a great job with it — is when he walks into the hospital in 2017 and everything from there until the turn, you’re supposed to think, Oh man, this is great."

Later in the interview, Taylor said that he's had some surprises in making Terminator: Genisys, adding "Almost all of them [had] to do with marketing. It's been an interesting lesson in what a challenge there is in doing it right."

Terminator: Genisys opens July 1.