A new logline for Netflix’s Terminator: The Anime Series reveals the series will feature a female protagonist sent back in time to protect a scientist.
Terminator: The Anime Series logo
As part of Netflix’s Next on Netflix 2024 Preview, the company revealed the official logline for the series, “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.”
It continues, “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.”
The logline concludes, “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.”
Linda Hamilton, left, and Arnold Schwarzenegger star in Skydance Productions and Paramount Pictures’ “TERMINATOR: DARK FATE.”
The series was initially announced back in 2021 as part of a deal Netflix has had with Production I.G. since 2018. At the time, details about the series were sparse although John Derderian Netflix’s Vice President of Japan & Anime stated, “Terminator is one of the most iconic sci-fi stories ever created–and has only grown more relevant to our world over time. The new animated series will explore this universe in a way that has never been done before. We can’t wait for fans to experience this amazing new chapter in the epic battle between machines and humans.”
And while they are calling it Terminator: The Anime Series, they announced the series was being showrun by The Batman scriptwriter Mattson Tomlin, meaning it’s not an actual Japanese anime rather it is similar to their Castlevania show where it features stories and scripts from the west and animation from Japanese studios.
Tomlin confirmed at the time the show would subvert expectations saying, “Anyone who knows my writing knows I believe in taking big swings and going for the heart. I’m honored that Netflix and Skydance have given me the opportunity to approach Terminator in a way that breaks conventions, subverts expectations and has real guts.
Kristanna Loken as T-X in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), Warner Bros. Pictures
There was not a lot of public movement on the project until 2023 when Netflix released a teaser trailer back in November.
On August 30th, 1997…Two days from now…Everything changes. Terminator: The Anime Series is COMING SOON #GeekedWeek pic.twitter.com/mcbxavrn7V
— Netflix Geeked (@NetflixGeeked) November 11, 2023
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Clearly, this series has a ton of red flags the main one being that it’s a female protagonist going back in time instead of the first film’s Kyle Reese or the second film’s T-800. On top of having a female protagonist, one can only imagine how it will subvert expectations.
They likely won’t kill John Connor or turn him into a Terminator from an alternate dimension given that’s already been done, but it wouldn’t surprise me that he’s shown as an incompetent leader and the female protagonist goes on the mission to spite him.
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton star in Skydance Productions and Paramount Pictures’ “TERMINATOR: DARK FATE.”
What do you make of this new logline for Terminator: The Anime Series?
Honestly, the Terminator franchise should just go to the academy hall of fame, and never be used to make a quick buck, again.
As far as the phrase “subverts expectations”, that phrase will be tainted by Rian Johnson for a while