Arnie is back from never gone

The burning cigar in his mouth. The explosion he walks away from in slow motion. The pumping music in the background. Engines race by, guns are fired, and then that one phrase, spoken with the confidence of a man who, after the success of The Terminator like no other the power of a good catchphrase understands: „I’m back, baby.” As an accompanying text to the teaser that Netflix released of the comedy action series FUBAR, the streaming service also wrote it down in capital letters for the unwary viewer: “ARNOLD. IS. BACK.”

You would think that the now 75-year-old Arnold Schwarzenegger has made every notable transition that can be made in his career by now. He was a bodybuilder turned actor, an action hero who ventured into comedy, a Hollywood star who became governor of California and a Republican who spoke out for progressive climate policies and against Donald Trump. But in 2023 he still finds new ways to put himself in the spotlight: in addition to his first TV series FUBARwhich comes out on Thursday, Schwarzenegger has been posting a new episode of his wellness podcast every weekday since March Arnold’s Pump Club online and the three-part documentary series will appear in June (again on Netflix). Arnoldabout his life as an athlete, actor and politician.

Testosterone fest

Of those three productions FUBAR (an acronym for Fucked Up Beyond All Repair) as the most special. Apart from the fact that Schwarzenegger never ventured into TV series before and he plays a role that emphasizes his advanced age, the series is completely within his comfort zone. Schwarzenegger plays casually shooting CIA spy Luke Brunner, who is about to retire when he is shocked to learn that his daughter Emma (Monica Barbara) has the same dangerous job. She, in turn, is equally upset about her father’s double life. As a result, neither of them are very excited about having to carry out Luke’s latest secret mission together, which leads to bickering, jokes about daddy issueslessons about cooperation and trust, and – of course – lots of action.

That seems FUBAR (for which Netflix imposed a strict embargo: no reviews for Thursday, the day the series is on the platform) to have few surprises in store. Also the documentary series Arnold is now presented in trailers as one big testosterone feast – more muscles, more cigars, more pumping music – with some vulnerable moments in between. Because Schwarzenegger is very aware that the extramarital affair he had cost him his marriage, he recently emphasized in a long interview of The Hollywood Reporter, and that it has been hard on his five children. Yet both in the interview and in the trailer, the emphasis is more on getting up than falling. “You work rotten, at all costs,” says Schwarzenegger at the end of the video. “Do it.” – with narrowed eyes he looks straight at the camera. “Do it now.”

Positive corner of the internet

The role of coach and motivational speaker the one in the trailer Arnold seeps through, is much more central to the podcast Arnold’s Pump Club, which can be called the most striking of the productions that Schwarzenegger is currently working on this year. The muscle bundle that is seen by many as the “ultimate alpha” does not only give sports and diet tips to stay physically fit in the many episodes: he also pays attention to mental health. “You may think that self-compassion is a sign of weakness,” he says in one of the first episodes, “but research shows the opposite is true.” Schwarzenegger reminds his listeners that they should speak to themselves in the same tone with which they would treat their best friend and says he wants to build “the positive corner of the internet” with the podcast.

This is not to say that his eagerness to achieve success and continue to perform has diminished – a subsequent episode is already entitled ‘Your limits are an illusion’ – but Schwarzenegger does show himself lenient in the podcast. At the same time, his foray into the podcast world is another smart way to stay relevant: listeners are encouraged to sign up for the daily newsletter of Arnold’s Pump Clubcan immediately read a number of free e-books from Schwarzenegger after signing up and are then also offered a spot on the waiting list of his new fitness community, The Pump.

When FUBAR and Arnold once watched and reviewed and he may tire of his podcast adventure, Schwarzenegger will no doubt find other ways to stay in the public eye, as he has managed to do since the beginning of his career. In any case, there is already a self-help book for November – Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life – in the planning. „I’ll be back”, would the terminatorstar himself. But one wonders if the man was ever gone at all.

The FUBAR series can be seen on Netflix from Thursday 25 May. The docuseries Arnold appears there on Wednesday 7 June.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPGFkAl2iuE