Netflix's Terminator Zero Trailer Introduces A New Killing Machine

"Terminator Zero" was one of several animated shows that blew us away at Netflix's June 2024 animation presentation. Now, fans can have their first proper look at the anime series by way of a brand new trailer that reveals more than ever before about this Japan-set installment in the "Terminator" franchise.

The series focuses on Eiko, a resistance fighter from 2022 who's sent back to 1997 to protect scientist Malcolm Lee from a Terminator played by none other than Timothy Olyphant. Yes, the "Justified" star will be voicing the main Terminator in "Zero," but it seems this won't be anything like Arnold Schwarzenegger's hulking T-800. Instead, as showrunner/executive producer/writer Mattson Tomlin ("Project Power") told Empire Magazine, this cyborg will be more of a "Creepy Fish Man," which apparently means he's "not handsome," "a little cross-eyed," and "very spooky." All of which should excite fans of the franchise who might recall that James Cameron's original plan for the first Terminator movie was for the titular robot to be someone that can blend in rather than stand out.

It seems Tomlin actually has a real appreciation for what made the "Terminator" films great overall, as evidenced by his attempts to lean into the horror aspect that was such a big part of the original 1984 movie. As the showrunner told Empire, "I wanted to lean into that body-horror, serial-killer feel of the first film which was almost like 'Friday The 13th' or 'A Nightmare On Elm Street.'" That it was. In fact, "The Terminator" was essentially a slasher with a sci-fi veneer.

"Terminator Zero" might have run into a hilarious problem owing to its Japanese setting, but so far the show is looking like it could be the best "Terminator" installment in decades — and the new trailer only has us more excited.

The new trailer is a decidedly grim affair, which actually bodes well for "Terminator Zero" aping the horror-tinged doom-fests that were the first two films. It begins with Sonoya Mizuno's Eiko presumably talking to Andre Holland's Malcom Lee, warning him about the dangers that await and revealing that he's "been on a collision course his entire life." The voiceover is set to ominous footage of what looks to be the show's equivalent of Judgment Day, with nuclear explosions decimating a city and Lee holding his children in terror.

We already knew "Terminator Zero" writer Mattson Tomlin wanted to emulate aspects of James Cameron's original "Terminator," making it so Eiko shares a lot in common with Michael Biehn's Kyle Reese. Her voiceover in this trailer is reminiscent of Reese's famous speech to Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) in Cameron's 1984 film, in which he urged that the Terminator "can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead." In the "Zero" trailer Eiko warns that "there's no going back" before adding, "It will never, ever, stop."

There's also shots of Timothy Olyphant's Terminator performing surgery on his exposed arm, recalling a shot from "The Terminator." What's more, the hellish visions of nuclear apocalypse hitting Japan recall Sarah Connor's nightmare from "Terminator 2," in which she watches as L.A. is flattened by nuclear fire before exploding into flames herself. The "Zero" trailer shows a skull screaming into a nuclear blast, which is very reminiscent of Sarah's nightmare.

All of this, interspersed between shots of Terminators being assembled, makes for an impressive trailer that looks to have truly revived that haunting aura of the first two movies.

"Terminator Zero" hits Netflix August 29, 2024.