Warning: There are spoilers ahead for The Running Man.Director Edgar Wright explains the true identity of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character in the new version of The Running Man. Schwarzenegger plays the protagonist, Ben Richards, in the 1987 film adaptation, while Glen Powell leads the 2025 Running Man‘s cast as Ben.
When Ben watches the Network and some of their game shows early on in the new movie, a $100 bill of the fictional New Dollars currency is shown. The bill features an image of Schwarzenegger wearing a suit and looking stoic.
In an interview with CinemaBlend, Wright explains that Schwarzenegger’s image is on the bill because in this version of the United States, he is the president. Wright and his creative team decided that individuals not born in the United States can run for president in this universe, meaning that Schwarzenegger could go from being the governor of California to the White House. Check out Wright’s explanation below:
We decided that in slightly alternate 2025 is that they change the rules, and people not born in the United States can run for president. So, the governor of California eventually became the president and in our version of events, he’s Arnold. He’s not Ben Richards, he’s Arnold Schwarzenegger, the president.
Wright acknowledges that the idea of Schwarzenegger being the president is not unique to The Running Man. He gives credit to Daniel Waters, writer of the 1993 science-fiction movie Demolition Man, and how the movie mentions President Schwarzenegger. Years later, Wright wanted to continue the joke.
I have to give credit to Daniel Waters, the great writer who wrote Demolition Man because he made that joke first in Demolition Man. They make a brief mention of President Schwarzenegger. So, I wanted to continue that joke.
A decade after the release of Demolition Man, Schwarzenegger became the governor of California in 2003 and held the position until 2011. Elsewhere in popular culture, Schwarzenegger is also depicted as the U.S. president in 2007’s The Simpsons Movie, where he is voiced by Harry Shearer.
While Schwarzenegger’s quasi-cameo is just meant to be a fun nod to the 1987 film, Wright’s explanation does raise some new questions about The Running Man‘s ending. The new adaptation sees Ben leading the public as they openly revolt against the Network, and Ben shoots producer Dan Killian (Josh Brolin) right before the credits begin to roll.
Corporations like the Network and their executives are the real power in this fictional world and not the actual government. With Killian and the Network now destroyed, there is a question of how power is restructured in this society.
Schwarzenegger’s president was seemingly little more than a public figurehead for the corporations, which Ben and the public are unlikely to let stand as they take back the power stolen from them. It is intriguing to consider what happens to the president in this aftermath, and that Schwarzenegger’s character is now part of the corrupt elite after the actor previously played Ben.
Just like the Stepen King book it is based on, 2025’s The Running Man is designed to be a standalone story, so these questions about Schwarzenegger’s character are unlikely to ever be answered. This doesn’t take away from the cameo, though, as it’s simply a subtle and fun way to pay tribute to Schwarzenegger and his important role in the history of this particular story.
- Release Date
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November 14, 2025
- Producers
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George Linder, Nira Park, Simon Kinberg