Over the years, many beloved franchises have been driven into the ground by sequels, prequels, and inbetweequels trying to extract the last bit of box-office juice from a property that peaked decades ago. One such revered entry that’s been regularly put through the Hollywood wringer is “The Terminator” franchise, which hit an all-time low with unnecessary sequel, “Terminator: Genisys,” and went out with a whimper with “Terminator: Dark Fate.” For five years, there was no sign of some of cinema’s scariest robots returning, until Netflix announced that another attack from Skynet would arrive on the streaming platform. This time in eye-watering anime form and starring Timothy Olyphant.
“Terminator: Zero” is an eight-part anime series released in 2024, born from a collaboration between Skydance and Japanese studio Production I.G., which had already dabbled in blockbuster worlds through the incredible anthology series “Star Wars: Visions.” This Skynet-bound series tells a different story set in the “Terminator” universe, focusing on yet another soldier sent back through time to protect another cog in a machine they don’t yet know they’re part of.
In this case, the potential lamb to the slaughter is scientist Malcolm Lee, who launches an artificial intelligence that will eventually compete with Skynet. Naturally, as with anyone who unknowingly plays such a big part in this dark future, Lee and his three children are hunted by a T-800, voiced by Olyphant, who, even in his brief appearances, becomes one of many highlights in a show that received a lot of love but, annoyingly, not enough viewers.
Terminator Zero has the highest Rotten Tomatoes score since the original movies
When it debuted on Netflix, “Terminator Zero” received hefty amounts of critical praise, with the show scoring 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Naturally, over the ensuing days, things started to even out, and now the show sits at 87% on the review aggregator. That puts it third in the combined rankings of”Terminator” movies and shows, between the short-lived “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” at 84% and the two original “Terminator” movies, both at 90%.
Even with that gradual dip, though, 87% is certainly nothing to sniff at, particularly for critics who raved about how much of a surprise hit the show was in a franchise that had drastically dipped in quality. Empire praised the series for giving the “Terminator” saga an “an authentic and incredibly stylish anime makeover. There’s visual flair throughout the excellent action sequences, with gripping car chases, bloody shootouts and tense cat-and-mouse chases.” It’s what the franchise was always good at, right? The highlight, though, was Olyphant “as the relentless, red-eyed T-800 that threatens to steal the show.”
With such bold, brave storytelling choices and impressive set pieces throughout, why are we still waiting on a second season of a show that seemingly brought the “Terminator” franchise back from the brink and to a higher standard? Well, that’s because, as with a lot of Netflix’s greatest works, the subscription service chose to cut the cord after audience numbers didn’t line up with production costs and canceled it after its first season.
The Terminator: Zero creator was happy with how things ended
Even the vocal talents of Timothy Olyphant as the T-800 and Rosario Dawson as the soldier from the future sent back to defeat it couldn’t make up for “Terminator: Zero”s low viewership. Critics shouted from the rooftops that it was worth watching, but audiences didn’t listen, and the show was canceled after its first season, even though the show’s creator confessed to wanting more to explore.
The show’s developer, Mattson Tomlin, revealed on X that the future was set for the show, in his mind at least, only for Netflix to choose its fate in the end. “The critical and audience reception to it was tremendous, but at the end of the day not nearly enough people watched it,” Tomlin explained. “I would’ve loved to deliver on the Future War I had planned in seasons 2 and 3, but I’m also very happy with how it feels contained as is.”
So, is the machine finally dead, and is there nothing left to tell from the “Terminator” universe? Of course, not. In fact, the father of Skynet and time-traveling assassins, James Cameron, confirmed to CNN that he was writing a sequel, but was having a tough time getting it done. “I’ve been unable to get started on that very far because I don’t know what to say that won’t be overtaken by real events.” Whatever it is, let’s hope it’s as good as, if not better than, this animated installment that didn’t get nearly enough love.
