Terminator Zero anime: Release date and what it’s about

Netflix has released some new information about its upcoming Terminator anime series, now formally christened Terminator Zero. Alongside a batch of awesome first-look images, we also have the series’ official release date and a brief synopsis of its story. Here’s everything we know about Terminator Zero.

When will Terminator Zero be released?

Barring any final-hour delays, Terminator Zero will be released on August 29, 2024. It’s a date with an interesting in-universe tie-in, too. Within the Terminator franchise, August 29, 1997, is “Judgement Day,” the day the artificial intelligence network known as Skynet is prophesized to achieve sentience and unleash nuclear Armageddon upon the world.

What is Terminator Zero about?

Like most other entries in the Terminator franchise, the story of Terminator Zero will involve time travel. The series’ protagonist, an as-yet-unnamed soldier, travels back in time to 1997 to protect Malcolm Lee, a scientist working to create a “benevolent” AI designed to protect humanity from Skynet.

Of course, the soldier’s job won’t be easy, as Skynet has sent an “unrelenting assassin” to the past to kill not only Malcolm, but also his three children. Amidst all this, Malcolm will grapple with the complex moral ramifications of designing what boils down to a digitized child soldier, who will bear the brunt of Skynet’s malevolence.

Who is making Terminator Zero?

While Netflix will produce Terminator Zero, the series will be animated by Production I.G, the studio behind many iconic anime films and television series, including Ghost in the Shell: Stand-Alone Complex, Psycho-Pass, and Haikyu!!. The series will be directed by Masashi Kudō, who served as the director for the insanely popular anime adaption of Tite Kubo’s Bleach.

Mattson Tomlin, who also wrote the script for The Batman: Part II, will write Terminator Zero’s script. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Tomlin stated that the series will treat every movie in the Terminator franchise as canon, meaning that plenty of Easter eggs and nods will be peppered throughout Terminator Zero’s eight episodes.