First announced in February 2021 the upcoming Terminator: The Anime Series has been kept mostly under wraps with little plot information offered. However, Geeked Week 2023, a virtual week long event celebrating Netflix’s upcoming releases, saw the release of a teaser trailer which gives vague details of what to expect.
Beginning with James Cameron’s 1984 film The Terminator, which starred Arnold Schwarzenneger and Linda Hamilton, the franchise explores a dystopian future in which humankind has been nearly wiped out by a sentient military machine network. The original film follows Sarah Connor as she is targeted by a time traveling Terminator machine which is sent back in time to kill her before she can give birth to John Connor, leader of the human resistance.
Following the success of the 1984 film, the franchise spawned a further five films, a TV series, in addition to several web series and comic tie-ins. Though recent films have seen a decline in popularity despite the involvement of legacy actors and writers.
Seemingly referencing the original continuity in which Judgement Day occurs on 29th August 1997 (incorrectly reported by Netflix as 30th August 1997), the teaser features a black background with red laser like patterns. The words “There is no fate. On August 30th, 1997… Two days from now… Everything changes” also appear on the screen before revealing the title card. Furthermore, teaser also features suspenseful music which morphs into the iconic score by Brad Fiedel, but no further details about the show have been offered.
Netflix partnered with Skydance and Production I.G. for the venture, which is led by showrunner Matt Tomlinson. Speaking to Variety in 2021 John Derderian, Netflix’s vice president of Japan and anime said, “The new animated series will explore this universe in a way that has never been done before. We can’t wait for fans to experience this amazing new chapter in the epic battle between machines and humans.”
Given this, alongside the teaser’s word choice, we can safely presume that the series plans to throw the original continuity away in favor of an exciting new story.
No date has been announced yet for the series’ release.
Words by Camille Murray
Support The Indiependent
We’re trying to raise £200 a month to help cover our operational costs. This includes our ‘Writer of the Month’ awards, where we recognise the amazing work produced by our contributor team. If you’ve enjoyed reading our site, we’d really appreciate it if you could donate to The Indiependent. Whether you can give £1 or £10, you’d be making a huge difference to our small team.