The long-running “Terminator” series is coming to Netflix as a new animated series.
The streamer made the announcement as part of its “Geeked Week” promotional cycle. Under the working title “Terminator: The Anime Series,” the show will feature brand new characters and is created by Japanese animation studio Production IG (“Ghost in the Shell”).
Here’s the official synopsis: “2022: For decades, a future war has raged 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. Between the future and the past stands a soldier sent into the past to change the fate of humanity. She arrives in 1997 to protect a scientist named Malcolm Lee, who is working to launch a new AI system to counter Skynet’s impending attack on humanity. As Malcolm grapples with the moral complexities of his creation, he is hunted from the future by a relentless assassin who changes the fate of his three children forever.”
Matt Tomlin is showrunner, executive producer and writer. Skydance is also an executive producer and Masashi Kudo is a director. The Terminator franchise currently includes six films, a television series, novels, comics and video games, but this is the first animated project.
“Anyone who knows my lyrics knows that it is important for me to take big steps and speak to the heart. “I’m honored that Netflix and Skydance have given me the opportunity to approach The Terminator in a way that breaks convention, subverts expectations and has real courage,” said Tomlin.
The series began with James Cameron’s 1984 low-budget film “The Terminator,” in which Arnold Schwarzenegger played a cyborg sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), a woman who… will give birth to a leader who will save the human race from a robot uprising.
While the first two films in the series – 1984’s first chapter and the Cameron-directed blockbuster Terminator 2: Judgment Day – are largely considered cornerstones of the science fiction genre, subsequent films have received mixed reception from critics and audiences.
The most recent, 2019’s Terminator: Dark Fate, was one of the most successful films, likely due to the return of Linda Hamilton in a leading role. Unfortunately, it was a box office bomb.
In recent interviews, Cameron has lamented the level of violence in his Terminator films.
“I look back at some films I’ve done and I don’t know if I want to do this film now,” he said during a discussion with Esquire Middle East. “I don’t know if I want to fetishize the gun in our world today, like I did in a few ‘Terminator’ movies over 30 years ago. What’s happening with guns in our society turns my stomach.”