As we near the August premiere date of Terminator Zero, Netflix is starting to reveal some key details about its highly anticipated anime series. Next month, we'll all get our first look at the show and probably some exciting announcements and casting details.
To kick things off, the streamer gave us a bit of an appetizer today by revealing who will voice the deadly Terminator in the series. In a post on Tudum, it was confirmed that Justified star Timothy Olyphant will voice the Terminator.
Since the series was first announced in early 2021, Netflix has been slow-dripping details and sneak peeks of the series. We know the plot and have seen a few still images, but we've yet to get a trailer. But don't worry, our first look at Terminator Zero footage will be shared during a special panel at Anime Expo on Friday, July 5th at 4:45 p.m. Hopefully, the footage is uploaded online for everyone to enjoy shortly afterward.
Produced for Netflix by animation studio Production I.G and Skydance Television, Terminator Zero is part of the Terminator universe but is shifting the story to Tokyo, Japan. The series is set between two timelines: the future war of 2022 between humanity and Skynet's relentless army of machines, and 1997 when 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," Netflix's description teases. "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 voices of these other key characters, including Malcolm Lee and the soldier sent back to protect him, have not yet been announced. But with Anime Expo 2024 less than a month away, it shouldn't be long now.
Terminator Zero is executive produced by Skydance, Japan animation studio Production I.G., and creator Mattson Tomlin (Project Power and Little Fish). Tomlin also serves as showrunner and writer.
“Anyone who knows my writing knows I believe in taking big swings and going for the heart,” Tomlin said back in 2021. “I’m honored that Netflix and Skydance have given me the opportunity to approach Terminator in a way that breaks conventions, subverts expectations, and has real guts.”
Terminator Zero will consist of eight episodes and will premiere on Netflix on August 29 -- which also just happens to be Judgment Day.