When I think about Terminator these days, I get kind of depressed. One of the coolest franchises in sci-fi history has dug a hole so deep, I don’t know if it can ever climb out. They tried to reboot the series with Terminator Genesys. It flopped. They tried to continue the original by bringing back Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, and James Cameron (though not in a director’s role) for Terminator Dark Fate. It flopped harder. What moves do the Machines have left?
People say that the first and second movies tell such a solid, complete narrative that you really can’t continue it in any way. But I don’t believe that it can’t be done. The Terminator world transitioned successfully to television in the late 2000s with The Sarah Connor Chronicles, an excellent action-drama that only existed for a season and a half yet deserved far more. Perhaps that’s a sign that Terminator could work again — in a different medium. Like anime, maybe?
It’s worth a try. Netflix announced over the weekend they’ve partnered up with Production I.G. to develop a Terminator anime series, with Mattson Tomlin (co-writer of WB’s The Batman) as showrunner.
Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, president and CEO of Production I.G, is quoted as saying “I asked my long-time friend and colleague Mamoru Oshii what he thought about the idea of turning Terminator into an animated series. His response was ‘Ishikawa, are you out of your mind?’ At that instant, I was confident we should get onboard.” Weird story, especially considering Oshii was the director of Ghost in the Shell and should be more open to dark sci-fi themes like this.
At the moment, all we have is the announcement…no preliminary sketches or hints at the plot. We don’t even know if the anime is going to take place in the war-torn future or the ominous present (or both). There isn’t a release date either, but if they’re just getting started, that may be a while. We’ll keep you posted if we hear more.
