Netflix celebrated the start of San Diego Comic-Con today by dropping a new poster for one of its highly anticipated series: Terminator Zero. The upcoming anime series is set to arrive on August 29 (Judgement Day) and the new poster features a cast of characters that fans of the original movie franchise may not be all too familiar with.
That's because Terminator Zero is shifting the action to Japan, where we'll meet a scientist named Malcolm Lee who is working to launch a new AI system designed to compete with Skynet's impending attack on humanity.
Front and center on the poster, stark naked and in that signature time-travel pose, is Eiko, a resistance fighter sent back in time to stop Malcolm from launching Kokoro, the advanced AI and Japan's answer to Skynet. In the background is the menacing metal skull of The Terminator, voiced by Timothy Olyphant.
Created and executive produced by Mattson Tomlin, Terminator Zero jumps back and forth between 2022, the future war between humanity and machines, and 1997, when the AI known as Skynet gained self-awareness and began its war against humanity.
The official synopsis from Netflix 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’s hunted by an unrelenting assassin from the future, which forever alters the fate of his three children.
The new post comes just a few 10 days after Netflix dropped the official teaser trailer for Terminator Zero. Filled with intensity and action, the trailer is voiced by Eiko who warns of the impending war.
As previously revealed, the cast of Terminator Zero stars Timothy Olyphant as the voice of the Terminator; Rosario Dawson (Ahsoka) as Kokori, an advanced AI that serves as Japan's own Skynet competition; André Holland (Moonlight) as Malcolm Lee, the computer programmer who developed Kokoro; Sonoyo Mizuno (House of the Dragon) as Eiko, a resistance fighter sent back in time to prevent Malcolm from launching Kokoro; and Ann Dowd (The Handmaid's Tale) as Prophet, a philosophical guide for the human resistance.
With about a month to go until Terminator Zero premieres on Netflix, we should get a longer trailer sometime soon. Terminator Zero is directed by Masashi Kudo at animation studios Production I.G (Ghost in the Shell, Kaiju No. 8) and Skydance Television. Mattson Tomlin serves as showrunner while also providing series composition. The series premieres on Netflix on August 29, also known as Judgement Day.