These are the John Connors I know, I know ...

While the world waits with bated breath to see whether or not Christian Bale, who turns 34 in January, will play John Connor in Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, I figured I'd round up some pictures of the various other actors who have tackled the role so far. Here they are, arranged from the youngest to the oldest.

Note: Ever since Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) established that it is possible to change the past, or the future, or the present, or whatever, several different timelines have branched off from that film. Indeed, the film itself originally had an epilogue that took place a few decades into the future, but it was cut from the final release. So I have numbered the timelines based on the order in which they were filmed.

John Connor, unborn -- inside his mother's tummy


John Connor, toddler -- Dalton Abbott, age 1


John Connor, age ? -- John DeVito, age 9


John Connor, age 10 -- Edward Furlong, age 13


John Connor, age 16, timeline 4 -- Thomas Dekker, age 19


John Connor, age 23, timeline 3 -- Nick Stahl, age 22


John Connor, age 33, timeline 3 -- Christian Bale, age 34


John Connor, age 44, timeline 1 -- Michael Edwards, age ?


John Connor, age 44, timeline 2 -- Michael Edwards, age ?


For now, I'm ignoring T2 3-D: Battle Across Time (1996), the Universal Studios theme-park spectacle that co-starred Edward Furlong and some of the other Terminator 2 alumni.

MAR 9 UPDATE: I have added a photo of the young John Connor who is played by John DeVito in flashback sequences in two episodes from the first season of The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

JUL 16 UPDATE: I have added an image of Christian Bale from the teaser for Terminator Salvation that was released today.