It wasn’t too long ago that we discussed how the Terminator franchise could move forward after all its post-T2 sequels struggled to captivate audiences to prevent it going offline for good. Production I.G, Skydance TV, and Netflix Animation’s Terminator Zero might be the answer we were looking for, and here’s everything we know about Terminator Zero ahead of its late August 2024 release.
For Disney, betting on animated approaches to massive properties such as Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe has paid off with huge successes like Star Wars Visions and X-Men ’97. Netflix is clearly hoping to replicate that success here with Terminator Zero, a standalone story set within the Terminator universe.
After Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles proved roughly 15 years ago that Terminator could work within the TV space, can an animated addition help reignite interest in this rusty sci-fi universe? Skydance sure hopes so, and we’re guessing that James Cameron would prefer to see new takes on the franchise along these lines before someone dares to add another stinker to the bottom of our Terminator movies ranked list (even though we think Dark Fate was actually quite solid).
It’ll be interesting to see where Terminator Zero fits into the established canon. As we discovered when putting the Terminator movies in order, the timelines are already a mess to untangle, so hopefully Zero can help us make sense of it all.
In the meantime, if you’re in a time-travelling mood because of Terminator Zero’s imminent arrival, be sure to check out our rundowns of the best time travel movies of all time and best time travel games too.
Terminator Zero release date
Terminator Zero is scheduled for release on Aug. 29, 2024, on Netflix. All eight episodes of season 1 will drop on the same day.
It remains to be seen whether this eight-part story arc will wrap itself up or leave the door open for another set of episodes. Another option, should the show find a sizable audience, would be to make an entirely different anime series that continues to expand the Terminator universe in a different direction, though that’s just speculation on our part.
What is the plot of Terminator Zero?
Terminator Zero has ties to the Terminator movies, but it’s a largely standalone story. It presents the post-apocalyptic future of 2022, in which Earth has been totally ravaged by the war between humans and machines after Skynet, a rogue AI system, gained sudden self-awareness and attacked humanity.
In 1997, the year when Judgment Day happened, the Resistance soldier Eiko (Sonoya Mizuno) arrives from the dark future with a simple mission: To protect Malcolm Lee (André Holland) and his kids from a Terminator assassin (Timothy Olyphant) that’s going after him. Why? Lee is working to launch an AI system of his own, designed to compete against Skynet and stop its attack on humanity.
As you can see, Terminator Zero is following the basic story structure and rules of most of the Terminator movies while charting its own path by moving away from the Connor family and their role in the conflict, both before and after Judgment Day.
Terminator Zero trailers
You can watch the July 15 teaser trailer, which made the series looks quite stylish and genuinely promising, below:
Alongside the first look at the show, an eye-catching and colorful poster was shared by Netflix as well:
On July 31, roughly one month before the series’ premiere, a second trailer arrived and gave us a good look at the story and characters this fresh new take on the IP has to offer. Watch it here:
Terminator Zero voice cast
Terminator Zero’s voice cast is pretty fantastic, and if you weren’t considering turning in, maybe you will after reading through the names involved.
Timothy Olyphant (Deadwood, The Mandalorian) is playing the main Terminator of the show. According to showrunner and writer Mattson Tomlin, Olyphant’s killing cyborg “feels fresh and new and wholly its own thing.”
He’s joined by Rosario Dawson (Death Proof, Ahsoka) as Japan’s AI answer to Skynet, Kokoro; André Holland (Moonlight, The Knick) as Malcolm Lee, a “genius computer programmer and father of three” haunted by grim nightmares of an apocalyptic future; Sonoya Mizuno (House of the Dragon, Crazy Rich Asians) as Eiko, the sole Resistance fighter sent back in time to protect Lee; and Ann Dowd (Hereditary, The Leftovers) as The Prophet, the “philosophical guide” of the Human Resistance in the dark future of 2022.
Terminator Zero director, writer, and crew
The anime series was created by Mattson Tomlin (Project Power, The Batman), who serves as showrunner, writer, and executive producer on the project. Also producing alongside him are David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Don Granger.
Masashi Kudō (Bleach, Sanrio Boys) directed the series for Japanese animation studio Production I.G (Ghost in the Shell, Psycho-Pass) in collaboration with Skydance TV and Netflix Animation. Netflix is handling the global distribution.
