Netflix’s Terminator Zero Anime Series Sets Release Date

Netflix has unveiled the first stills for the upcoming Terminator Zero anime series along with an announcement of a streaming date.

Created and executive produced by Mattson Tomlin (The Batman Part II) and executive produced by Skydance Animation by Production IG Studios, Terminator Zero will feature brand new characters set in the universe of James Cameron ‘s 1984 sci-fi classic. Directed by Masashi Kudo , the eight-episode inaugural season is scheduled for release on Netflix on August 29, 2024.

“I think that it’s time to go into new characters and not burden myself with another John and Sarah Connor saga. There’s been a run at that a couple of different times,” Tomlin said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly . “There are a lot of callbacks to the other films. Fans who really know the movies are going to be doing the Leo meme from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, but it’s not going to be as direct as John Connor walks in, because John Connor does not walk in.”

The official synopsis for Terminator Zero reads: “2022: A future war has raged for decades between the few human survivors and an endless army of machines. 1997: The AI known as Skynet gained self-awareness and began its war against humanity. 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 is hunted by an unrelenting assassin from the future which forever alters the fate of his three children.”

Will the post-T2 sequels be canon in Terminator Zero?

James Cameron’s The Terminator was a groundbreaking hit that launched the careers of Arnold Schwarzenegger , Linda Hamilton , and Michael Biehn. The 1991 sequel Terminator 2: Judgement Day , however, not only surpassed its predecessor’s box office but also featured groundbreaking CGI that changed the landscape of cinema. Since then, none of the post-T2 sequels including 2003’s Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, 2009’s Terminator Salvation, 2015’s Terminator: Genisys, and 2019’s Terminator: Dark Fate have matched the success of Cameron’s entries in the franchise.

Tomlin revealed if the non-Cameron movies will be considered canon in Terminator Zero. “We’re not going to pretend that the third movie didn’t happen. We’re not going to pretend that the sixth movie didn’t happen,” Tomlin said.

All eight episodes of Terminator Zero are scheduled for release on Thursday, August 29, at 3 a.m. ET/12 a.m. PT on Netflix.