Summary
- Netflix is turning the Terminator franchise into an anime, set in two timelines and featuring new characters while staying true to canon.
- Production I.G is handling the animation, with a star-studded voice cast including Timothy Olyphant and Rosario Dawson.
- The story, written by Mattson Tomlin, promises to take big swings and break conventions, with the anime set to air on August 29th, 2024.
Netflix is no stranger to taking Western live action media and turning it into anime. The result has greatly varied depending on the title, but the streaming service is not ready to give up yet. The latest franchise that they are giving the anime treatment is one of the most famous sci-fi movie series of all time - Terminator. That's right, the series starring none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger himself is being turned into an anime for the first time.
While the initial announcement of this upcoming anime, called Terminator Zero, came a while ago now, the first trailer for it has finally dropped along with a new key visual. This has the internet very hyped up because it gives the first real look at how Terminator Zero is going to look. The trailer came directly from Netflix over the weekend, along with a poster for the upcoming anime series.
A New Chapter for an Old Series
The Story Will Be Original, but Canon
Terminator Zero is neither a remake nor an alternate universe. The anime will be set in the Terminator universe, and what happens in it will be considered canon for that franchise. However, it will not star the usual characters that fans of the movie-verse know and love. Instead, it will be the story of all new characters, and set across two timelines at once. The first of these timelines will be 2022, when humans have nearly gone extinct and machines run rampant. The second will be 1997, the year that the AI Skynet began to fight back against the humans.
Netflix summarized the story as follows:
Caught between the future and this past is a soldier sent back in time to change the fate of humanity. She arrives in 1997 to protect a scientist named Malcolm Lee who works to launch a new AI system designed to compete with Skynet’s impending attack on humanity. As Malcolm navigates the moral complexities of his creation, he’s hunted by an unrelenting assassin from the future, which forever alters the fate of his three children.
It sounds like the two timelines will be happening simultaneously, with the story jumping back and forth between them just as the characters will be. What is happening in both worlds will be important to the plot. Terminator Zero sounds like it will add more depth and detail to the world of the Terminator movies, but also sounds like it will be accessible to sci-fi fans that may not know as much about the original source material as well.
What We Know About Terminator Zero
Everything You Need to Know
Terminator Zero is being produced by an anime studio famous for its science fiction anime, Production I.G (Ghost in the Shell, Psycho-Pass, FLCL). They are no stranger to the genre, and the most likely to do justice to the source material. It is being written by Mattson Tomlin, the mind behind Netflix's action/sci-fi movie Project Power and upcoming movie The Batman II. From Tomlin, Netflix reports,
“Anyone who knows my writing knows I believe in taking big swings and going for the heart,” Tomlin said in 2021. “I’m honored that Netflix and Skydance have given me the opportunity to approach Terminator in a way that breaks conventions, subverts expectations, and has real guts.”
The Terminator anime will have 8 episodes, and will begin airing the same day that Terminator 2: Judgment Day released - August 29th. It will star the vocal talents of Timothy Olyphant (Deadwood), Rosario Dawson (Ahsoka), André Holland (Moonlight), Sonoya Mizuno (House of the Dragon), and Ann Dowd (The Handmaiden's Tale). It's a heavy-hitting cast list for sure, and Netflix is clearly banking on it doing well.
Since the story of Terminator Zero is an original one, it is unlikely that viewers will need to watch the original movies to understand it. However, it is likely that the creators will throw in some Easter eggs for hardcore fans to pick up on, and the details of the world and its lore will be better appreciated by people that are already familiar. That likely won't stop anime fans from giving it a try when it airs at the end of next month, considering the first teaser already has nearly 1 million views on YouTube in less than two days.
Terminator Zero is coming to Netflix on August 29th, 2024.
How The Terminator Franchise Moves Forward
Terminator is a great franchise, but it's losing steam. It needs a new formula if it's going to survive.
Source: Netflix
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