In October 1984, James Cameron gave the world one of the best sci-fi movies of all time with The Terminator, an intense action thriller that would spawn a massive franchise consisting of multiple sequels, comic books, video games, and even a TV show. Now, 40 years later, the property is about to get the anime treatment.
One of the most anticipated upcoming Netflix shows, Terminator Zero will offer a new spin on the popular franchise that turned Arnold Schwarzenegger into a global threat and introduced unforgettable movie quotes. If this is the first you’re hearing about the project, worry not, because we’re about to break down everything we know about this exciting anime series, including its premiere date, its story, and who is playing the Terminator this time around.
What Is The Terminator Zero Premiere Date?
We don’t have to wait all that much longer to see what Netflix has cooking with its new anime series, as the Terminator Zero premiere date is set for August 29, 2024. One of the numerous new shows from the streamer on the 2024 TV schedule, the series’ arrival is a long time coming for diehard fans of the Terminator franchise.
Timothy Olyphant Will Lead The Terminator Zero Voice Cast
When Terminator Zero arrives on Netflix in August 2024, it won’t feature Arnold Schwarzenegger providing the voice of the titular cybernetic assassin, but the actor voicing the killing machine is no amateur. In June 2024, Netflix Tudum announced that Timothy Olyphant had been cast as the cyborg sent back in time, but the streamer didn’t disclose if his character would be good, evil, or somewhere in between.
The series will take place in the Terminator universe, but Zero will be introducing characters we haven’t met yet, so that means it could be anyone’s guess for how Olyphant’s Terminator is portrayed. We’re also waiting to hear more about the rest of the cast, especially who’ll be playing the female soldier sent back to 1997 to prevent the war from starting in the first place.
The Terminator Zero Announcement Video Teases Judgment Day
In November 2023, Netflix confirmed that Terminator Zero was “coming soon” to the popular streaming platform with the release of the first announcement/teaser trailer. The 45-second video doesn’t offer up any scenes from the upcoming animated series, stops short of introducing the new characters, and keeps the details light, but it does provide a couple of bits of information that sounds pretty exciting. Check it out below:
Judging by the three lines of text featured in the announcement video, the series will take place days before Skynet becomes self-aware and wipes out much of the human race on Judgment Day, the day “everything changes.” For now, we’ll have to sit with our anticipation as we await a full-fledged trailer for Terminator Zero.
The Series Will Follow A Soldier Sent Back In Time To Protect A Scientist Targeted By Skynet
The vast majority of the movies in the Terminator franchise have included time travel in some shape or form, and that will once again be the case for the upcoming anime series. Shortly after the Terminator Zero announcement, Deadline covered details concerning the show, including some information on its plot.
According to the official synopsis, the streaming series will center on a soldier from the future sent back to 1997 to find and protect Malcolm Lee, a scientist on the precipice of launching a new AI system that could stand up against Skynet and its impending attack on humanity. Malcolm will also be the target of a mysterious and unrelenting assassin who has also been sent back in time to prevent the scientist from completing his life’s work.
The show will feature several of the franchise’s hallmarks, including moral complexities, future wars, and cold killing machines that will stop at nothing to carry out their mission.
Terminator Zero Will Consist Of Eight Episodes
Netflix has announced that Terminator Zero will consist of eight episodes.
This was the same amount of episodes ordered for Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, the animated continuation of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, which debuted in late 2023. Unlike the Scott Pilgrim series, which brought back the cast from the original movie, the new Terminator show will feature new characters not in the various films set within the universe.
It should also be noted that Netflix has yet to reveal the runtime for each of those eight episodes, but if we use Scott Pilgrim Takes Off as a model, the chapters could be around 30 minutes apiece.
Mattson Tomlin Wrote The Anime Series And Will Serve As Showrunner
Back in February 2021, when we were just a little more than a year removed from the release of Terminator: Dark Fate, Netflix announced that it was developing its own addition to the popular franchise in the form of the upcoming anime series. At the time, it was also announced that Mattson Tomlin, who wrote the Netflix original film Project Power before working on The Batman’s script revisions, would be writing the series as well as serving as its showrunner.
Tomlin, who is also penning the script for Matt Reeves' The Batman Part II, took to X, formerly known as Twitter, after the release of the November 2023 announcement video to share an update and his enthusiasm for the project, saying:
I wrote a TERMINATOR anime. It is real, it is coming. And it absolutely will not stop. #NoFate
Several months later, Tomlin returned to X in June 2024 to announce that he was also producing the music alongside Cape Francis.
The Animation Is Being Handled By Japanese Studio Production I.G., Best Known For The Ghost In The Shell Anime
Terminator Zero is being made, in part, by several entities: Netflix, Skydance, Mattson Tomlin, and Production I.G., the latter of which is handling the animation efforts for the series. If the name Production I.G. sounds familiar, it could have something to do with the fact that the company has created some of the best anime movies and shows to date, including the highly-rated Ghost in the Shell 1995 animated film.
Fans of Kill Bill, one of Quentin Tarantino’s best movies, may also remember Production I.G. from the animation house’s eye-popping and attention-grabbing O Ren Ishii segment from the first half of the two-parter. The origin story of Lucy Liu’s deadly character still gets a lot of love 20 years after its release.
What Is The Terminator Zero Ranking?
Netflix has not announced a rating for Terminator Zero at the time of this writing, but based on a combination of what we’ve heard about the series so far and the tone of the movies in the franchise, it’s hard to see this being anything besides TV-14 or TV-MA.
All things considered, it wouldn’t be that surprising for the series to have the most restrictive rating on the streaming service, especially if the segments set during the all-out war between man and machine in the future are as violent as what we’ve seen in the past. However, we’ll make sure to keep you all updated as more information becomes available.
Expect to hear much more about Terminator Zero in the future as more details become available. While we wait, now would be a good time to check out some of the best 2023 anime movies and shows that are currently available with a Netflix subscription.
