Terminator: Zero has not yet been renewed for a second season by Netflix, but showrunner Mattson Tomlin is aiming for five or six seasons – just before T2: Judgement Day
Does humanity have a future? That’s the central question of Terminator: Zero, Netflix’s anime addition to the Terminator franchise. But ahead of the series’ debut on August 29, fans are wondering about another question: Does Terminator: Zero have a future? To get an answer, we spoke to showrunner, Terminator junkie, and writer of the upcoming films The Batman Part II and BRZRKR, Matson Tomlin.
Tomlin was joined by director (and Bleach veteran) Masashi Kudō at a panel discussion before Netflix’s screening of the first two episodes at Anime NYC. When asked if there were plans for Season 2 (which Netflix has not yet approved at the time of this writing), Tomlin said the following:
“When you get hired for a TV show, the people who put a lot of money into it always ask, ‘Do you know where you’re going?’ What I can say is that right now it’s just this (season). People have to come, they have to watch the first season and hopefully those numbers will give me the opportunity to keep going.”
Related: All Terminator movies and TV shows, ranked from best to worst!
“I’d love to do five or six seasons,” he continued. “I have a story because, you know, one of the questions you have to ask yourself when you’re doing something that was actually live-action as an animation project is, ‘Why does this have to be animated?’ And for me, part of the answer was telling a generational story.”
“At the heart of the story is this family and these children,” Tomlin is referring to the main character Malcolm Lee – played by André Holland in the English version – and his three children. “And to see them grow up, get older, endure the war, go through the war and then see how it all turns out; I find that very appealing.”
“This is something that’s never been done before,” Tomlin concludes, “not only in this franchise, but in the way I want to do it, it’s never been done before. The only other thing I can say is that I know what the last episode is, whether it’s a two-season situation or a six-season situation.”
Terminator: Zero will be released on Netflix on August 29th.
