Netflix’s first teaser for the animated sci-fi action drama Terminator Zero introduces Eiko, voiced by House of the Dragon‘s Sonoya Mizuno. The anime series focuses on resistance fighter Eiko’s journey back in time to stop Skynet and features new characters in the Terminator universe.
“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,” reads Netflix’s synopsis. “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.”
The voice cast also includes Timothy Olyphant (Santa Clarita Diet) as Terminator, André Holland (Moonlight) as Malcolm Lee, Rosario Dawson (Ahsoka) as Koroko, and Ann Dowd (The Handmaid’s Tale) as The Prophet.
Netflix offered the following key character descriptions:
• Rosario Dawson as Kokoro – An advanced AI and Japan’s answer to Skynet, if brought online, Kokoro will be endowed with the same power as Skynet. Kokoro must calculate for itself: is humanity the plague Skynet believes? Or are human beings worth saving?
• André Holland as Malcolm Lee – A genius computer programmer and father of three, Malcolm Lee 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.
• Sonoya Mizuno as Eiko – Coming from a post-Judgement Day 2022, Eiko is a resistance fighter sent back in time to stop Malcolm from launching Kokoro.
• Ann Dowd as The Prophet – In the future, the Prophet is the philosophical guide for the human resistance, a light shepherding survivors in the darkness of the unknown future ahead.
Mattson Tomlin (Mother/Android) created the series and serves as writer, executive producer, and showrunner. Additional executive producers include Skydance’s David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Don Granger. Ghost in the Shell’s Production IG handles the animation, and Masashi Kudo directs.
The eight-episode season premieres on August 29, 2024, otherwise known as Judgment Day.