A new anime series starring actors from Star Wars and House of Dragon is set to expand the Terminator universe. Terminator Zero releases on Netflix on Thursday, August 29 with a unique look into the universe in two different times - namely 1997 and 2022 - as humanity battles against Skynet.
In an anime production created by Skydance, Production IG, Masashi Kudō and Mattson Tomlin, a soldier must protect scientist Malcolm Lee who launches an AI system that can suppress the villainous Skynet. However, Malcolm is being hunted by a Terminator, played by Timothy Olyphant, and must defend himself.
Terminator Zero will be part of the Terminator universe and be set after Terminator 2, but will centre on new characters we haven't met yet. With no signs of Arnold Schwarzenegger or Linda Hamilton, who will be appearing in Terminator Zero?
Who is in the cast of Terminator Zero?
Timothy Olyphant as The Terminator
Timothy Olyphant takes on the iconic role of The Terminator who has been sent back in time to kill Malcolm Lee. Mattson Tomlin believes this incarnation of The Terminator and Olyphant’s interpretation isn’t like any we’ve seen before. “It feels fresh and new and wholly its own thing.”
Timothy Olyphant is known for his roles in TV shows Justified and Deadwood, and many villain roles including Scream 2, Die Hard 4.0, Gone in 60 Seconds and The Girl Next Door.
Rosario Dawson as Kokoro
Rosario Dawson is the voice of Kokoro, which is an advanced AI and Japan’s answer to Skynet. If brought online, Kokoro will be endowed with the same power as Skynet.
Dawson is a prolific actress best known for her role as Ahsoka Tano in The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka as well as Common Ground. You may also know her as Claire Temple in MCU TV series Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and The Defenders.
André Holland as Malcolm Lee
Malcolm Lee is a genius computer programmer and father of three, but is haunted by prophetic nightmares of an apocalyptic future. He’s spent the last decade creating a secret artificial intelligence that he believes will be humanity’s last hope.
Holland starred in Moonlight and The Knick, as well as Selma, American Horror Story: Roanoke and The Eddy.
Sonoya Mizuno as Eiko
Coming from a post-Judgment Day 2022, Eiko is a resistance fighter sent back in time to stop Malcolm from launching Kokoro. The British-Japanese actress is known for her roles in House of the Dragon, Crazy Rich Asians and Devs.
Ann Dowd as The Prophet
The Prophet serves as the philosophical guide for the human resistance, a light shepherding survivors in the darkness of the unknown future ahead. The American actress has previously appeared in The Handmaid’s Tale, Mass, Philadelphia, The Manchurian Candidate, Marley & Me and Hereditary.
What is the Terminator Zero anime series about?
A plot synopsis from Netflix states: "2022: A future war has raged for decades 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.
"Caught between the future and this past is a soldier sent back in time to change the fate of humanity. She arrives in 1997 to protect a scientist named Malcolm Lee who works to launch a new AI system designed to compete with Skynet’s impending attack on humanity.
"As Malcolm navigates the moral complexities of his creation, he’s hunted by an unrelenting assassin from the future, which forever alters the fate of his three children."
“I was looking at the franchise and the first two movies in particular,” Tomlin said of the series' influence. “And why are we still talking about this franchise 40 years later? You strip away killer robots, you strip away Judgment Day, what do you have left? You have stories about families.”
