Summary
Terminator Zero, thefirst ever Terminator anime, tells a new story from the beloved world while switching between the years 2022 and 1997. A soldier is sent back in time to change the fate of humanity, arriving in 1997 to protect a scientist named Malcolm Lee (Andre Holland) who works to launch a new AI system designed to compete with Skynet’s impending attack on humanity. Throughout the series, Malcolm must navigate the moral complexities of his creation as he is hunted by an unrelenting assassin from the future.
Terminator Zerofeatures a leading voice cast including Timothy Olyphant, Sonoya Mizuno, Rosario Dawson, Ann Dowd, and Andre Holland. Showrunner, writer, and executive producer, Mattson Tomlin is well known forMother/AndroidandLittle Fish, and is currently working on writingThe Batman Part IIwith Matt Reeves. He is also writing theupcomingBRZRKRmovie and anime.Terminator Zeropremieres on Netflix on August 29.
This 21-Year-Old Anime Movie Shows Why Netflix’s Terminator Zero Will Work
Terminator Zero will be Terminator’s first animated show, but another major sci-fi franchise once got the anime treatment – and it worked perfectly.
Screen Rantspoke with Mattson Tomlin about the pressures of adapting something that has such a massive and adoring fan base. He also discusses the decision to move away from the Connors and to set the series in Japan. Mattson reveals why horror is such a main part of this newTerminator Zeroanime and what it was likeworking with Production I.G.. Mattson teases as much as he can about his upcoming film,The Batman Part II, as well.
Mattson Tomlin Reveals That Playing In The Terminator World Is “Terrifying”
It’s “always scary when it’s something that people care about.”
Screen Rant: What is it like getting to play in such an iconic franchise like Terminator?
Mattson Tomlin: Terrifying. Just terrifying. Always, always scary when it’s something that people care about, and something that people know about. You walk in, and it’s not just whatever tickles my fancy, you have to kind of stop and go, “Why do people like this? Why are we still talking about it 40 years later?” There’s something going on underneath here that makes people keep coming back to it.
Why when people say, “Oh, there’s another Terminator coming out,” do people roll their eyes? Why are they mad about that? So it’s like, let’s just be people and let’s just really look at that and go, “Okay, now I’m going to be the guy that goes in and tries to do something with a heartbeat here.” Why do people love this, and how can I not [mess] it up?
The First Terminator Gave Mattson Tomlin Nightmares
“My association with this franchise is not action.”
Screen Rant: I love the horror vibe in this series. Can you talk about diving into the scariness of this world?
Mattson Tomlin: The first movie scared the sht out of me. The first time I saw it I was eight years old. I got to Arnold taking pliers and digging his eyeball out, and I was like, “Nope, nope. Can’t do it.” It gave me nightmares. I think, if you ask anybody what’s the movie that scared the sht out of you when you were a kid, it’ll be The Exorcist, or it’ll be one of the Alien movies, or Jaws. For me, it was Terminator.
And so, when I got the call to come play in the Terminator universe, my association with this franchise is not action. That’s there, and I know the second one is the greatest action movie of all time. I’m there, I’m with you. But that’s separate from the primal connection that I have with it, which is this gave me nightmares, so that I had to just follow that.
Screen Rant: Part of what makes it so scary is that is feels realistic, too.
Mattson Tomlin: There’s been a lot of talk over the last couple of years, and the last year in particular, about AI. We had the Hollywood writers strike last year, and one of the big issues was about AI. For me, when I started writing this four years ago, there were things that I was writing that felt like this is a stretch. This feels just a little too far into the future. Are people going to buy this or have I departed too much, and now I feel like I’m a little late. A year ago we were laughing that AI couldn’t figure out how many fingers we have, and now every Instagram post that I look at, I’m like, is this real? Am I being fooled right now? I feel like I’m getting catfished here. What’s going on?
Terminator Zero Moves Away From The Connors
Screen Rant: Can you talk a little bit about getting away from the Connors, because you’re not playing with the people that everyone knows and loves. You’re telling another story, but it’s still the same world.
Mattson Tomlin: The movies have been on the Connors for a while, and to me, it just felt like it was actually less about the Connors per se, and more about the fact that I had a Japanese animation studio that was doing this. It just felt like the right thing to take full advantage of that cultural asset to go, “Okay, there’s going to be 1000 people in Tokyo working on this thing, and meanwhile, it’s just me over here in the States writing it. So why don’t I lean into that?” I’m not going to put the Connors in Japan because they’re on the US/Mexico border. I think it’s finally an opportunity to try something else.
And the fact that it’s animated too, the fact that it’s an anime. I don’t know that audiences would be so psyched at the John Connor anime. I think that there was this opportunity begging for lets go over here, what’s happening on the other side of the planet and just check that out. Because for a franchise that’s been around for 40 years, there were no clues about what’s happening in Asia, beyond the fact that Russia is launching nukes and everybody is launching nukes. Beyond that, it’s like, “Okay, what’s happening on the ground?” So it really came out of that, rather than anything else.
Mattson Tomlin Is In “The Best Hands In The World” With Production I.G.
Screen Rant: I am a big anime fan, so this was very exciting to see. Can you talk about working with Production I.G.?
Mattson Tomlin: It’s one of those things where, when I’m writing, I have a thing in my head, and I’m going, well, if it was the thing in my head, it would be good, but what’s going to happen? Then I turn in the scripts, and then there’s a long time, it’s like a year of not having any idea what’s going on and just kind of being like, are we doing this? Is this happening? What is happening over there? And then finally, the first animatic comes in, and it’s an animatic so it’s rough. A lot of the times, it’s just like a circle with two dots and a smiley face.
We’re talking rough animatics, and yet you start, you hit play, and it starts to move, and instantly I was like, I’m in the best hands in the world. These guys know exactly what they’re doing, and they’re going to take everything that I’ve done and tried to arm them with, and they’re just going to pump it up to an 11. They’re going to make me look so smart. I just need to get out of their way.
The Opening Sequence Is A Six Minute Action Sequence
Screen Rant: Was there one scene you wrote, that you can talk about, that you were most excited to see come to life?
Mattson Tomlin: The first one. Because that was the one that was like, if this isn’t good, then we’re off to a bad start. Like, then we should stop. We should stop. That scene doesn’t have any dialog. It is just a six minute, flat out action sequence, visual storytelling and complex things happen in there. Complex things to describe on the page of hooking yourself into a harness, and then falling off of this rafter, and then swinging around in a circle, and then running on the wall, and then triggering a bomb, and then swinging, and then somebody’s climbing on you. You see it, and you’re like, yeah, it’s that. But if you’re reading that on the page, making sure that it not just translates to the reader, but literally translates from English to a Japanese script, I hope it makes sense.
Then seeing it and going, oh, not only did they get what I wrote, but they furthered it. They added on to it in ways that are just so marvelous. That, for me, was a big relief. But I have to say, I’ve been working on the show for four years, and it was only six weeks ago that finally all of the shots are in, the lighting is done, the voices are in, and it really is right down to the wire of, oh, it looks good. You don’t know, there are years where you’re like, yeah, maybe that’s going to be good. I hope. I think that’s what that line means. I think we’re going that way. Animation is terrifying, yeah.
The Bar Couldn’t Be Higher For The Batman Part II
Screen Rant: Before we go I have to ask you about The Batman Part II. How is the script coming along? Are you close?
Mattson Tomlin: It’s shooting next year. We’re gearing up, and I will say that the bar just couldn’t be higher. It’s the sequel to the first one. But also, Matt [Reeves] is like no other. In the five years now that I’ve been working with him as closely as I have, I’ve tried to absorb as much as humanly possible from him, and I’m so grateful for the time that I get to spend with him, because he is a true artist who is operating in a world where sometimes art doesn’t get to flourish, and he’s trying to make something that really matters. So to be able to just be on the ride and be part of that process, it’s pretty unbelievable, pretty tremendous. I’m psyched for the movie.
More About Terminator Zero
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 is hunted by an unrelenting assassin from the future which forever alters the fate of his three children.
