Summary
Netflix’sTerminator Zerosounds very exciting, but it is continuing a worryingTerminatortradition that began 16 years ago withThe Sarah Connor Chronicles(2008). Part of the reason why theTerminatormovie timelinesare so confusing is that the franchise includes a lot of retcons, reboots, and sequels that chose to ignore certain events.TheTerminatorlore will be expanded soon withTerminator Zero, an anime series from the studio behindGhost in the Shell(1995) and other fan-favorite Japanese movies and TV shows.
Terminator Zerowill tell a classicTerminatorstory, with a soldier from the future having to go back to the past and find a scientist who is working on a powerful artificial intelligence that could rival Skynet. From the serialized format to the possibilities of the animation media,Terminator Zerois expected to be very different frompreviousTerminatormovies. Still, the series seems to be continuing a curious tradition that followed the release ofTerminator 3: Rise of the Machines.
Terminator Zero Is Yet Another Terminator Project Ignoring Everything After T2
Terminator Zero Is Full Of Terminator 2 References (Including The Release Date)
Terminator Zerowill take place in 2022 and 1997, the last of which is the year Skynet was activated and attacked humanity in the originalTerminator 2: Judgement Daytimeline. The fact thatTerminator Zero’s timelinefollows the chronology in the first twoTerminatormovies is already a sign that the series will not incorporate elements from other movies and series that came afterT2. Additionally,Netflix’s officialTerminator Zeroannouncement included plenty of references toT2.This includes the show’s release date – July 23, 2025 – which is a reference to the Judgment Day date of June 22, 2025.
1984
1991
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
2003
2008-2009
2009
2015
2019
Terminator Zero
2024
Terminator 2takes place mostly in 1995, with John, Sarah, and the T-800 eventually preventing the 1997 nuclear warfrom happening.Terminator3: Rise of the Machines, the first entry in the franchise not directed by James Cameron, would then reveal that the heroes simply postponed Judgment Day. The date in which Judgment Day happens as well as plenty of other aspects of the franchise would continue to be changed and retconned in future installments, all of which took place in their own continuity.Terminator Zero’s only connections to the movies so far are with the first two.
This 21-Year-Old Anime Movie Shows Why Netflix’s Terminator Zero Will Work
Terminator Zero will be Terminator’s first animated show, but another major sci-fi franchise once got the anime treatment – and it worked perfectly.
Why Terminator Movies & Shows Keep Ignoring Judgment Day’s Sequels
Terminator Never Found Itself Again After T2 – And That’s Worrying
IfTerminator Zerodoes not reference or acknowledge any of the other entries in theTerminatorfranchise that came afterT2, it will be yet another chapter in the series to do so.For example,Terminator: The Sarah Connor ChroniclesignoredRise of the Machinesand worked as a direct sequel toTerminator 2. Likewise,Terminator: Salvationintroduced a different date for Judgment Day and tried to work as a prequel to the firstTerminatorrather than a proper sequel toRise of the Machines.Genisyswas a new timeline entirely, whereasDark FateignoredallTerminator 2sequels.
Terminatornever had another critically acclaimed hit afterTerminator 2, which is disappointing given the franchise’s massive pop culture legacy.
Of course,Terminator Zerois a standalone anime series that tells a brand-new story within theTerminatoruniverse. The show will most likely not have too many connections to the movies and will focus on its original characters instead. Still, the fact that one of the most excitingTerminatorprojects in years is a different interpretation of the franchise in a media it had never explored yet rather than a theatrical sequel to the previous movies is telling.Terminatornever had another critically acclaimed hit afterTerminator 2, which is disappointing given the franchise’s massive pop culture legacy.
Cast
Set in an alternate 2022, Terminator Zero is an anime action/sci-fi series that sees a scientist named Malcolm Lee trying to create a counter AI to stop Skynet from wiping out humanity. Now a target of Skynet from the future, a soldier from the same time returns to attempt to save him.
