Netflix unveiled a new teaser trailer for its upcoming Terminator anime series, Terminator Zero.
The trailer, which plays The Smashing Pumpkins’ Disarm throughout, sees familiar Terminator iconography stylized in anime form. Key among these iconic callbacks are scenes where Skynet’s nuclear fallout melts the faces of its lead characters, a Terminator disguised as a cop hunting down our hero, and a future-flung ally tasked with preventing the apocalypse. Only this time, instead of the original film’s T-1000 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) taking center stage, Terminator Zero sees a dual-rifle-wielding automaton clashing with a resistance fighter designed like Ghost in the Shell’s Makoto Kusanagi.
A new judgment day arrives. Terminator Zero, an all-new anime starring Timothy Olyphant, premieres August 29. pic.twitter.com/SKMm5VIUie
— Netflix (@netflix) July 31, 2024
Terminator Zero takes place both at the onset of Skynet’s uprising in 1997 and its ongoing war against the last vestiges of humanity in 2022. The show follows a scientist named Malcolm Lee who works to launch a new A.I. system designed to compete with Skynet's impending attack on humanity. Like Kyle Reese in the original 1984 film, a supporting character named Eiko is sent back in time to protect Malcolm and his two children from time-traveling assassins. Key among them is the eponymous Terminator.
The Terminator anime series was first announced in August 2022. The Batman co-writer Matt Tomlin serves as the series’ showrunner. Terminator Zero is being co-produced by Skydance and Production I.G., the anime studio behind prominent sci-fi shows like Ghost in the Shell Arise, Psycho-Pass, and the recently released Kaiju No. 8. Terminator Zero’s cast includes:
- Timothy Olyphant as the voice of the Terminator
- Rosario Dawson as Kokoro, an “advanced AI and Japan’s answer to Skynet.”
- André Holland as Malcolm Lee
- Sonoya Mizuno as Eiko
- Ann Dowd as The Prophet, "the philosophical guide for the human resistance."
All eight episodes of Terminator Zero will premiere on Netflix on August 29.
Isaiah Colbert is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow them on Twitter @ShinEyeZehUhh.
