Sarah Connor returns alongside new cyborg soldier Grace and Dani Ramos, a young Latina positioned as the future resistance leader after the film opens by killing John Connor. This recasting of the central conflict foregrounds female protagonists in place of the established male hero.

Director Tim Miller explicitly framed Grace as a character meant to "scare the f— out of" misogynists, highlighting her toughness as a deliberate counter to perceived traditional expectations. An immigration and border subplot further portrays authorities in a negative light, adding thematic weight to the narrative choices. These elements combine with measurable audience pushback, including significant backlash and underperformance at the box office linked directly to perceptions of forced messaging.

Reviews also noted queer subtext between Grace and Dani, though the film maintains an action focus that some saw as partially organic. The combination of creator statements, character replacements, and subplot framing elevates the ideological content to a moderate level without fully dominating every scene.