Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.

Okay. So CHUD.COM is now confirming this as a spoiler and not just a rumor.

That's news to me, gang. I published this as one of those random crazy mailbag spoilers that almost never turn out to be quite true. They turn out to be one person's misunderstanding of one part of something, or they're just fanboy invention. From time to time, marking something as a big fat "rumor" and publishing it as such is fun. All the way back to the STAR WARS days. And, yes, from time to time, one or two of those rumors have panned out to be something pretty close to the truth, or they've kicked loose someone who knows the truth and wants to correct us... that's just the fun of movie rumors. Speculation runs wild as fan-favorite films head into production.

Here's what I said to one of our talkbackers, who was reacting to another talkbacker's post that was pretty much just "Yeah, well, you're fat and stupid and you suck and you're a baby and fuck you." Which I sort of expected, I guess:

"... I'm not remotely surprised to see someone show up and just launch a personal attack. It's an easy way to make it about me instead of about the rumor that's being discussed.

This isn't a personal article. I'm the guy who saw the original TERMINATOR in the theater when it came out. 40-something times. Because I was 14 and a friend's brother was the guy at the door five nights a week including weekends and let us in for free as much as we wanted. We saw the original two or three times a week the whole time it was out. And back then, a film that was making money just stayed around... making money... all summer long...

I love THE TERMINATOR. I love TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY. I remain unconvinced on everything else. If it's been released, I've seen it, and I haven't published huge pissy rants about any of it. It's just not for me. I'm not buying. TERMINATOR 3? Not buying it. SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES? Not buying it. Sorry. But that's my opinion. And that's exactly how I offered it. Opinion.

So if someone's going to make it personal, that's their business. I'm writing as I've always written... as someone who loves good films. If I thought they were making new TERMINATOR films as anything other than product, I'd be more interested. That's not me attacking the director or the producers or Christian Bale or saying anything personal or mean about them. That's a TERMINATOR fan saying, 'Sorry, but that's just not for me. I'm not asking you for more TERMINATOR. I'm happy with the story that was told. I don't need more. I don't really want more. I'd like it more if you'd just... stop. Please. That's my vote. That's all it is.'

I'll change the title to reflect that this is evidently a spoiler. I ran it as a crazy rumor because, frankly, I didn't think it would pan out. Then Devin at CHUD reported that it matched what he knows, so I'll mark it as a potential spoiler."

Sorry I didn't mark it as a spoiler the first time around. I'm still not sure it is one, but I'm going to mark it just in case.

Now here's the original piece I ran yesterday afternoon:

I’m not much for the nerdstalgia that has turned every single studio in town into a remake/reboot factory. I think it’s short-sighted and stupid, and in the long run, we’re cannibalizing our business by only indulging this pathetic need to destroy every single franchise we ever cared about. It’s all driven by marketing departments and research groups, and there’s nothing honest or organic about it.

My biggest question to the studios is this: what are you going to be remaking in 20 years? If you refuse to greenlight original visions right now, and all you’re doing is this cinematic grave-robbing over and over and over and over again, then what are you going to do 20 years from now?

At some point, this cycle has to end. Either that, or we’re on our way to being the music industry, and that’s fucking terrifying.

For those of you who feel like there are still unanswered questions about the world of THE TERMINATOR, or who just can’t get enough of seeing James Cameron’s original story expanded way past the breaking point, you’re going to finally get your wish and see the future war in the upcoming TERMINATOR: SALVATION, which is meant to kick off another trilogy of films.

Will it? Well, if the ending that today’s spy sent us is any indication of what to expect, I don’t think a sequel is going to be something anyone needs to worry about. Instead, the filmmakers might want to consider the Witness Protection Program.

Why? Oh, man, just read the following, and keep in mind: this is a rumor. I don’t have the T4 script here, and I’m not saying that this IS the ending. Just that this rumor is so batshit crazy I had to share it with you guys, and I’ll start digging to see what I can come up with. If this is how it ends, then the destruction of this franchise is complete, and James Cameron can rest assured that he remains the only person to ever make any TERMINATOR films I give a shit about.

Take it away, Dr. Silberman:

"Alright so the main character is a cyborg named Marcus. For some background, Marcus was a criminal who was executed in 2003. He donated his body to Project Angel which was involved with SkyNet. They take his body and make a terminator out of him so he's a terminator skeleton but has living muscle/skin and a beating heart too. At the end of the movie John Connor is fighting a T800 model 101 and loses. He dies and the top resistance people come up with a plan to help the resistance keep fighting on. The resistance feels that it's important to keep the image or idea that John Connor is still alive so the resistance keeps going. So they rip off Marcus' skin and put John Connor's on the skeleton so now Marcus is John Connor."