Netflix’s Terminator Anime Shares Its Dystopian First Look, Title, and Release Date

The most recent Terminator film—2019’s Dark Fate—wasn’t quite a return to blockbuster form. But the franchise James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger kicked off in 1984 (and were “back” with in 1991) is, much like its titular killer robots, never going to die. Today, we have our first look at Netflix’s long-teased anime series, Terminator Zero.

First announced in 2021, and re-affirmed during last fall’s Geeked Week, Terminator’s first anime series has a global premiere date of August 29. It’s created and executive produced by Mattson Tomlin (whose credits include being a co-writer on upcoming films The Batman II and Mega Man), and Netflix’s description states that it will be “part of the Terminator universe but will center around new characters.”

Here’s the full synopsis (damn you, Skynet!):

“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.”

Terminator Zero is executive produced by Skydance (David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Don Granger) and directed by Masashi Kudo (Bleach); the animation studio is Tokyo-based Production IG. Netflix released a few initial photos to go with the title and date announcement, giving us our first look at Terminator Zero’s dystopian world and characters.

All eight episodes of Terminator Zero hit Netflix August 29.

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