Summary
While theTerminatormovies featured a lot of ambitious action set pieces, Netflix’s anime seriesTerminator Zeropromises one thing none of them provided.TheTerminatorfranchisehas been inconsistent over the years, to put it mildly. The movies started strong with director James Cameron’s iconic 1984 sci-fi horrorThe Terminatorand its superior sequelTerminator 2: Judgment Day, both of which featured complex but understandable time travel plots. However, 2003’sflawedTerminator 3: Rise of the Machinesderailed the series with a story that was somehow simultaneously too full of comic relief and too bleak.
Since then,Terminator: Salvation,Terminator: Genisys, andTerminator: Dark Fateall tried and failed to reboot the series. Now, theupcoming Netflix anime seriesTerminator Zeroseems set to improve the franchise’s standing. Set in 1997 Japan,Terminator Zerofollows the story of Malcolm Lee, a scientist working on an alternative AI that he hopes can fight Skynet’s global technological domination. Lee is targeted by Timothy Olyphant’s Terminator, sent from the future to kill him before he succeeds. He is protected by Eiko, a resistance soldier from the future who must ensure the Terminator can’t complete its lethal mission.
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Terminator Zero’s Trailer Teases Multiple Terminators In The Netflix Show
The Terminator Franchise Hasn’t Pitted Its Heroes Against Multiple Terminators
InTerminator Zero’s trailer,the anime series promises multiple Terminators instead of just one cybernetic assassin coming after the heroes.Although theTerminatorfranchise has depicted numerous Terminators onscreen at the same time before, this was usually in the context of a brief montage likeTerminator 2: Judgment Day’s unsettling vision of the future. Alternatively, these Terminators were part of a larger army in a post-apocalyptic setting like that ofTerminator: Salvation. What viewers have never seen was a threat from multiple human-disguised, full-fledged Terminators seeking out human heroes before Judgment Day reshaped the human world.
Viewers have never seen a hero take on dozens of Terminators at the same time.
What makesTerminator Zeroso excitingis the show’s promise to provide these sorts of franchise firsts for the series. It is surprising that, in the forty years sinceThe Terminator, viewers have never seen a hero take on dozens of Terminators at the same time. However,Terminator Zeroappears to offer exactly this from 0:50—0:53 of its trailer. These scenes see a legion of Terminators in containment tanks, with a young hero and later Olyphant’s Terminator standing among them. This setup is exciting precisely because it proves the franchise still has untapped potential.
Olyphant’s Terminator doesn’t resemble the original T-800 or any of its subsequent variants like the T-X or T-1000, but remains equally threatening.
We Already Know Who Terminator Zero’s Main Terminator Is
Although the trailer promises a slew of potential antagonists forTerminator Zero’s heroes, viewers already know who the main antagonist of the series will be.Terminator Zero’s main Terminator is played by Timothy Olyphant, and he can be seen throughout much of the trailer’s action pursuing the heroes. Olyphant is best known for his roles in shows likeJustified,Deadwood, andSanta Clarita Diet, but he played a similarly implacable killer in 2007’s video game adaptationHitman. Olyphant’s Terminator doesn’t resemble the original T-800 or any of its subsequent variants like the T-X or T-1000, but remains equally threatening.
As physically imposing as the original android assassin,Timothy Olyphant’sTerminator Zerocharacterseems like he will be a major threat to the main characters without any help. Adding multiple other Terminators into the mix might dilute his threat level since it would prove that the main characters could handle more than one of Skynet’s assassins. That said, this may be worth the payoff if it means that viewers get to see something that the franchise has never done before. IfTerminator Zerodoes send a whole troop of Terminators after the heroes, this could make for a compelling action sequence.
Are The Terminator Zero’s Multiple Terminators A Red Herring?
The Terminators of Terminator: Zero’s Trailer May Be Misleading
The only problem with this theory is thatTerminator Zero’s Terminators are seen in containment tubes, so they might never escape this facility.There is a chance thatTerminator Zero’s multiple Terminators are only seen in dream sequencesor when Olyphant’s main Terminator visits the Skynet HQ. If this is the case, viewers will still get a new insight into the shady company’s inner workings, but may still be deprived of a fight scene or chase sequence featuring multiple Terminators. This would make sense since it runs the risk of making individual Terminators, the franchise’s original villains, less scary.
Regardless,Terminator Zerowill offer some insight into the franchise’s world judging by the glimpse of those many Terminators seen in its trailer. Whether the anime series unleashes them all on the unsuspecting heroes at once remains to be seen. What is already clear is thatTerminator Zerois doing something new and exciting with the lore of theTerminatorseries after decades of underwhelming reboots.
