After a series of commercial (though not always critical) flops, we recently got word that the long-running Terminator franchise will be taking a hiatus - in live-action, at least!
Netflix (via EW) has debuted the first official promo images for a new anime series titled Terminator Zero, which will take the classic sci-fi franchise in a completely new direction by moving the story to Tokyo, Japan, and, for the first time, shifting away from Sarah and John Connor, who have featured (played by several different actors) in all previous Terminator movies.
Showrunner and executive producer Mattson Tomlin (The Batman - Part II) explains the decision to switch focus to a whole new set of characters.
“I think that it’s time to go into new characters and not burden myself with another John and Sarah Connor saga. There's been a run at that a couple of different times," Tomlin says. "There are a lot of callbacks to the other films. Fans who really know the movies are going to be doing the Leo meme from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, but it's not going to be as direct as John Connor walks in, because John Connor does not walk in."
Tomlin does make it clear that the show will not be a complete reboot, however.“We're not going to pretend that the third movie didn't happen. We're not going to pretend that the sixth movie didn't happen.”
According to the official synopsis, the series "takes place in Japan in the year 1997, on the cusp of Judgement Day, the pivotal moment when Skynet’s military A.I. network becomes self-aware leading to a decades-spanning war between an endless army of machines and the human survivors. There are still the familiar Terminator beats: A soldier from this hellish future is sent back in time to protect a scientist named Malcolm Lee, who is working to launch a competing A.I. system to Skynet. An unrelenting machine assassin in the guise of a human is hunting him, which also puts his three children in harm's way."
Check out the images at the link below.
All episodes of Terminator Zero drop Thursday, August 29, at 3 a.m. ET/12 a.m. PT on Netflix. Are you looking forward to this series? Let us know in the comments section down below.