Netflix’s Terminator Zero starts the war against Skynet in new trailer

    By Dan Girolamo
Published July 31, 2024

Humanity battles Skynet in the new trailer for Terminator Zero, the upcoming anime series for Netflix.

In 1997, Skynet rose to power, beginning the all-out war between man and machine. That same year, scientist Malcolm Lee (André Holland) believed the answer to saving humanity was an AI system called Kokoro (Rosario Dawson). Developed by Malcolm, Kokoro is Japan’s answer to Skynet, and if brought online, it will calculate if human beings are worth saving.

In 2022, machines have destroyed nearly all of humanity, with only a few survivors left. Skynet sends the Terminator (Timothy Olyphant), a cybernetic assassin, to 1997 to kill Malcolm. The resistance counters with Eiko (Sonoya Mizuno), a soldier sent from the future to stop Malcolm from launching Kokoro and protect his family from the Terminator.

Terminator Zero also stars Ann Dowd as The Prophet, the philosophical leader of the Resistance.

Terminator Zero is created by Mattson Tomlin, a writer who contributed to the script for Matt Reeves’ The Batman and penned . Tomlin is the writer, showrunner, and executive producer of Terminator Zero. The series is directed by Masashi Kudō, the director best known for his work on the anime series Bleach.

The anime series is executive produced by David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Don Granger of Skydance. The series also hails from the Japanese animation studio Production IG. The eight-episode series is the first anime in the Terminator franchise. Terminator Zero does not feature ties to franchise protagonists Sarah Connor and her son, John.

Terminator Zero streams to Netflix on Judgement Day, aka August 29, 2024.

Related Posts

You can now enjoy Substack on a TV, if that’s your idea of fun times

The app, which has just rolled out for Apple TV and Google TV, basically takes the video content and livestreams from the creators you already subscribe to and splashes them onto the biggest screen in your house. It is a smart, calculated move toward what the tech industry calls a "lean-back" experience. Instead of hunching over a laptop or squinting at a smartphone screen to watch a forty-minute interview or a deep-dive lecture, you can now throw it on the TV while you cook dinner, fold laundry, or just relax on the couch.

Wondering if YouTube TV is worth it? This new promo will help you decide without hurting your wallet

Typically, YouTube TV offers a 7-day free trial, after which subscribers pay $82.99 per month for the streaming service. Under the new promotion, subscribers can enjoy a 10-day free trial and pay just $59.99 per month for the first two months.

Netflix’s latest move is huge for movie theaters, and fantastic for you and I

In April 2025, Sarandos previously stated that he loved theaters but thought that theatrical moviegoing is an “outmoded idea, for most people, not for everybody.” As a result, Netflix's purchase of Warner Bros. ignited backlash and fears over the film industry's future.