‘Terminator Zero’ creator calls the anime series a “faithful adaptation”
Ahead of Netflix’s exciting Terminator Zero arriving on August 29th, creator Mattson Tomlin has revealed more about his creative process and the reasons that motivated him to strike such a chilling sci-fi horror tone. He maintains that the show is a “faithful adaptation”.
The upcoming show is set in 1990s Japan and follows scientist Malcolm Lee as he develops an artificial intelligence system meant to compete with Skynet. With Judgement Day approaching in 1997, Lee and his family are suddenly targeted by a robot assassin, and a soldier from 2022 is sent to protect him.
Terminator Zero has an all-star cast, with Timothy Olyphant voicing the Terminator sent to kill Lee. Rosario Dawson, André Holland, Sonoya Mizuno and Ann Dowd also appear.
Not only is the upcoming eight-part series one of the most hotly anticipated of Netflix’s 2024, but fans are hoping that it will help refresh the Terminator series, which has flagged in recent years with flopped sequels such as Salvation, Genisys, and Dark Fate.
In addition to the strong cast, fans have much faith that Terminator Zero will succeed due to other vital aspects. These include Tomlin contributing to the script for Matt Reeves’ widely successful The Batman, the fact it is directed by the legendary anime hero behind Bleach, Masashi Kudō, and that Production IG, the animation house that brought the original Ghost in the Shell to life, are also involved.
Now, Tomlin has revealed another reason why Terminator Zero is shaping up to be a success. Speaking to Tech Radar, he said that when he first sat down to pen the script, it was a question of what Terminator he sought to bring to life and whether he wanted to ask the legendary T-800 actor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, to return. He then revealed how it is a “faithful adaptation” of James Cameron’s original vision for the character.
Tomlin explained: “In looking for clues on what to do, I wanted to have this be a faithful adaptation to what the intent of Terminator was. I found this article where Cameron was describing potentially casting Lance Henriksen as the Terminator. And Lance and Arnold couldn’t be more different. The original conception was that he’s an infiltrator. He can sneak in and sneak out of anywhere almost like a spy. That never happened in any of the movies. Instead it went into leather jackets and Harley-Davidsons and shotguns and sunglasses.”
The creator didn’t think he could compete with the classic image of the Terminator with his addition to the franchise, “so I did the thing that wasn’t quite done.”
He concluded: “Let’s have this guy that looks pretty normal. He’s a little bit cross-eyed, he’s got this greasy slicked-backhair. He’s a creepy guy who you don’t want to run into in a dark alley, and now let’s have him get run into in a dark alley.”