How A Terminator & RoboCop Crossover Movie Could Revive Both Franchises

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Both the Terminator and RoboCop franchises have seen much better days, but a crossover movie pitting the two against each other could revive things. When it comes to iconic movie series to emerge from the 1980s and 1990s, there are few as beloved as Terminator and RoboCop. Sure, both franchises have entries in them best left forgotten, but for the most part, fans are still willing to give each attempt at a return to past glory a try. Of course, that didn't help Terminator: Dark Fate not bomb at the box office, as apparently that many people hated Terminator Genisys.

That said, it's clear both Terminator and RoboCop are far from their respective heydays at this point. Dark Fate earned fairly positive reviews, but failed financially. Genisys and Salvation were both critical and commercial flops. 2014's RoboCop remake wasn't dreadful, and featured a good cast, but was so entirely unremarkable that it could be watched and forgotten mere hours later. That's not to mention, RoboCop 3, which while released back in the 1990s, is often considered one of the worst sequels ever made.

Yet, Terminator and RoboCop are recognizable enough brands that they'll probably never stay dead for too long. There will likely be a Terminator 7 after a few years of regrouping, and a sequel to the original RoboCop, RoboCop Returns, is in development, although there hasn't been an update on the project in over a year. However, it could be a combination of the two cyborgs that really draws fans back in.

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For obvious reasons, Terminator and RoboCop have always been franchises that end up in the same conversations. They both involve deadly cyborgs, both concern future dystopias, and both involve technology progressing far past the point of even 2020, decades after both properties were created. However, the two universes, much less the T-800 and Alex Murphy, have never crossed over onscreen. The idea of them doing so definitely isn't untested though, as RoboCop Versus The Terminator first became a comic book series in 1992, written by Frank Miller and drawn by Walt Simonson.

That comic series was popular enough to be loosely adapted as two competing games for the consoles of the time, Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis, which also sold pretty well. They even recently crossed paths as DLC fighters in Mortal Kombat 11. In short, there's precedent for a RoboCop/Terminator crossover being accepted by fans. A crossover movie, whether focused on Arnold Schwarzenegger's T-800 and Peter Weller's RoboCop, or altogether different leads to try and freshen things up, could give both franchises the cinematic jumpstart they so sorely need after decades of mediocrity at best and awfulness at worst.

In fact, focusing on new characters, or at least not getting swept up in all the various mythology baggage involved in past films would probably be a wise choice overall. A Terminator/RoboCop crossover should be about one thing, thrilling audiences, and making them realize en masse just how awesome a good movie in either storied franchise could truly be. The ball is now in Paramount and MGM's court to make it happen.