Netflix's 'Terminator: Zero' Anime Series Unveils Bleak, Stylized Trailer

It's the end of the world as we know it in Terminator Zero's new trailer

Toussaint Egan (he/him) is a curation editor, out to highlight the best movies, TV, anime, comics, and games. He has been writing professionally for over a decade. We're less than a month away from the premiere of Terminator Zero, the anime series set in the dystopian universe of the Terminator film and television franchise. In anticipation for the original co-production between Production I.G (Ghost in the Shell, Psycho-Pass) and Skydance, Netflix shared a new trailer for the series on Tuesday focusing on the show's two human protagonists, computer programmer Malcolm Lee and time-traveling resistance soldier Eiko. Executive produced and created by Mattson Tomlin (Project Power, The Batman), Terminator Zero brings the Terminator universe to anime for the first time, and is set after the events of 1991's Terminator 2: Judgement Day. The series centers on Malcolm Lee (André Holland), a genius scientist developing an artificial intelligence that is perceived as a threat to the world-conquering AI Skynet. When Skynet sends a Terminator (Timothy Olyphant) back in time from the future to kill Malcolm and his family, human resistance fighter Eiko (Sonoya Mizuno) travels back in time to safeguard Malcolm and his children from the robot apocalypse. This latest trailer offers glimpses of Malcolm's nightmares of a nuclear attack wiping out an entire city, Malcolm lecturing his son about the virtue of knowledge as a means of resisting oppression, and his desperate pleas for Kokoro to save humanity from impending extinction. We also get a few snippets of Eiko in action, fighting off a Terminator raid on an underground resistance base, throwing a molotov cocktail at a police car in hot pursuit, and planting an explosive device on an industrial walkway while swinging from a rappel line. In short, being a badass and earning her place in the resistance against Skynet. It's been nearly five years since Terminator: Dark Fate, the sixth film in the Terminator series that was moderately well-received by critics but bombed at the box office. Will Terminator Zero turn out to be the much-needed shot in the arm this franchise needs? We'll find out when the anime premieres on Netflix next month.

Terminator Zero New Trailer Previews Anime's Bleak, Stylized Take on the Franchise - IGN

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. 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: 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.

'Terminator Zero' Trailer: Hero Eiko Battles Cyborg Assassin

As a war between humans and AI machines rages, the animated character Eiko, a resistance fighter voiced by Sonoya Mizuno, battles a cyborg assassin from the future in the official trailer for Netflix's Terminator Zero, which was released on Wednesday. Eiko has been sent back in time to protect scientist Malcolm Lee, voiced by André Holland, as he develops Kokoro, or an advanced artificial intelligence as a rival to the malicious Skynet. "If the Terminator can get to Malcolm, the children will be its next target," Eiko says at one point in the trailer as Skynet's unrelenting killer robot hunts for Lee and the anime series' dramatic stakes rise. The Netflix series from The Batman II writer Mattson Tomlin is set to debut on Aug. 29, or "Judgment Day," and will premiere opposite The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on Amazon Prime Video. The Terminator Zero voice cast includes Timothy Olyphant voicing the Terminator, Rosario Dawson as Kokoro and Ann Dowd as The Prophet, a philosophical guide for the human resistance helping shepherd survivors in the darkness of the unknown future ahead. According to a synopsis from the producers, Terminator Zero will be set in 2022 where a future war has raged for decades between the few human survivors and an endless army of machines, and 1997 where the AI known as Skynet has gained self-awareness and has begun its war against humanity. The eight-episode series hails from Japanese animation studio Production IG and is directed by Masashi Kudo. Terminator Zero promises new characters and is the first-ever iteration of the movie franchise to be animated. Tomlin is the showrunner, writer and executive producer on the series, with David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger executive producing for Skydance. In 2023, Skydance Animation unveiled a multiyear pact with Netflix to develop and produce animated movies for the streamer.

Netflix's Terminator Zero starts the war against Skynet in new trailer | Digital Trends

Humanity battles Skynet in the new trailer for Terminator Zero, the upcoming anime series for Netflix. In 1997, Skynet rose to power, beginning the all-out war between man and machine. That same year, scientist Malcolm Lee (André Holland) believed the answer to saving humanity was an AI system called Kokoro (Rosario Dawson). Developed by Malcolm, Kokoro is Japan's answer to Skynet, and if brought online, it will calculate if human beings are worth saving. Recommended Videos In 2022, machines have destroyed nearly all of humanity, with only a few survivors left. Skynet sends the Terminator (Timothy Olyphant), a cybernetic assassin, to 1997 to kill Malcolm. The resistance counters with Eiko (Sonoya Mizuno), a soldier sent from the future to stop Malcolm from launching Kokoro and protect his family from the Terminator. Terminator Zero also stars Ann Dowd as The Prophet, the philosophical leader of the Resistance. TERMINATOR ZERO | Official Trailer | Netflix Terminator Zero is created by Mattson Tomlin, a writer who contributed to the script for Matt Reeves' The Batman and penned Project Power. Tomlin is the writer, showrunner, and executive producer of Terminator Zero. The series is directed by Masashi Kudō, the director best known for his work on the anime series Bleach. The anime series is executive produced by David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Don Granger of Skydance. The series also hails from the Japanese animation studio Production IG. The eight-episode series is the first anime in the Terminator franchise. Terminator Zero does not feature ties to franchise protagonists Sarah Connor and her son, John. Terminator Zero streams to Netflix on Judgement Day, aka August 29, 2024.

Terminator Zero's Latest Trailer Is Here to Revamp the Franchise

After numerous unsuccessful reboots and sequels, the Terminator franchise is finally getting animated. Next month, on Judgment Day, Netflix will debut Terminator Zero, a brand new anime set in the world of James Cameron's iconic franchise. We've seen a few glimpses so far but a new trailer is our best look yet. Created by Mattson Tomlin, Terminator Zero takes place in 2022, when a soldier is sent back in time to protect a scientist whose own AI could bring down Skynet once and for all. Of course, Skynet does not want that, and sends a Terminator back to kill her before this rival AI can be completed. Only some of that is clear in this trailer, but it's gorgeous and we are loving it anyway. Check it out. We don't hear all of them in the trailer but Timothy Olyphant is the voice of the Terminator; André Holland is scientist Malcolm Lee; Rosario Dawson is Eiko; Ann Dowd is the Prophet; and Sonoya Mizuno is Kokoro. We'll have more on Terminator Zero in the coming weeks. But for now, just mark down every Terminator fan's favorite day: August 29.