Reese rescues her from the Terminator's attacks in a nightclub and in a police station, warning her of the impending doom of the human race and of the future significance carried by her and her unborn son.

Though battle-hardened and world-weary, Reese had fallen deeply in love with Sarah, a woman he had only known through a photo given to him by John, and traveled back in time to meet her.

It is clear that Kyle is immediately drawn to the charismatic figure of John Connor because he leaves his Los Angeles base after hearing the latter's Resistance broadcast.

In the film, Kyle is already working with and protecting a child named Star (Jadagrace Berry) when the two later save Marcus from a T-600 attack in the ruins of Los Angeles.

Marcus eventually defeats the T-800 by tearing its head off and escapes the base with John and Reese before they detonate the bombs, destroying the facility and taking thousands of unfinished T-800s with it, changing the future for the better.

At the end of the film, Reese is promoted to resistance soldier and becomes part of John's inner circle consisting primarily of Kate Brewster, Blair Williams and Barnes.

He discovers that Sarah Connor has been raised and trained by a reprogrammed T-800 (Schwarzenegger), creating an alternate timeline and thus making Kyle a remnant of the previous.

At the same time, Reese continues to exist, as his parents still met, though under different circumstances, and it is his knowledge of Genisys through his new memories before the timeline's change that enables them to travel forward to 2017 instead of 1997.

In the episode "Goodbye to All That," during one of Derek's recollections of the future war, Kyle (when he was a Corporal) and a small group of his unit attempted to save forty prisoners, including General John Connor, from Skynet's forces.

A teenage Kyle Reese appears in the video game, The Terminator: Skynet, developed by Bethesda Softworks, set before the events of the first film.

Kyle Reese appears in the video game, The Terminator: Dawn of Fate, developed by Paradigm Entertainment, set before the events of the first film.

Kyle Reese appears in the mobile MMO strategy video game, Terminator Genisys: Future War, created by Plarium.

The events of the game take place in the alternate, post-apocalyptic future timeline of Terminator Genisys, where an older Kyle becomes the leader of the resistance movement against Skynet instead of John Connor.

In the downloadable content (DLC) "Annihilation Line", released in December 2021, and set during the middle of the main game's campaign mode, as Jacob Rivers, the player teams up with Kyle Reese to rescue a group of people captured by Skynet.

Sumner would later appear in a Sarah Connor Chronicles episode and make it alive through the time portal with Kyle's brother and two other Resistance time-traveling agents.

Arnold Schwarzenegger was the original choice to play Reese, but director James Cameron ultimately decided to cast him as the Terminator instead.

In Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Michael Biehn reprises the role of Kyle Reese; Sarah Connor, under heavy sedation, imagines him visiting her in a mental institution.

Michael Biehn's performance was met positively with critics, highlighting his ability to develop Reese's wounded core and longing despite the fast-paced nature of James Cameron's first film[4] and for playing the heroic role "unusually sensitive".

[11] Criticism was also made of Courtney's acting,[12][13] total lack of charisma[14][15] and over strong physique for an actor playing a character supposed to have grown up often starving up in a nuclear wasteland.