The showrunner responsible for Terminator’s first anime reveals a surprising tie to the movies.
Terminator Zero recently released its release date along with a first look for the Netflix anime that will be the first of its kind for the Skynet-focused universe. Set to hit the streaming service this summer, T-100 fans might immediately wonder if the new anime series ties into the events that have taken place in the handful of movies that document the fight against the future. In a new interview, the showrunner of the series breaks down how the Production I.G. series will tie into the original universe, if at all.
If this is your first time hearing about the first anime of the Terminator franchise, here’s how Netflix describes the upcoming series, “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 is hunted by an unrelenting assassin from the future which forever alters the fate of his three children.”
Terminator Anime Vs. Terminator Films
Showrunner Mattson Tomlin broke down how the anime is looking to leave behind the Connor family and explore a new aspect of the universe that is still tied to the film series, “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. 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.”
In extrapolating on this point, Tomlin confirmed that they aren’t planning on “ignoring” any of the films that arrived prior to the anime series, “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.” Fans won’t have to wait long to see how the anime plays homage to its movie universe, as Netflix plans to release all eight series episodes on August 29th.
