Warning: Spoilers ahead for Terminator Zero.
Terminator Zerohas the best Rotten Tomatoes score for the franchise sinceTerminator 2: Judgment Day, which, in addition toThe Sarah Connor Chronicles, confirms thatTerminatoris better off on TV.Terminatoris sadly one of the franchises where there are more disappointing moviesthan good ones. As groundbreaking asThe TerminatorandJudgment Daywere, it is impossible to deny that all the other movies that came after that missed the mark on some level. Starting withTerminator 3: Rise of the Machines,theTerminatormoviescould never quite recapture what made the first two films so good.
On the one hand,it can be argued thatTerminatorshould not have become a franchiseand did not need multiple sequels and prequels. On the other hand,Terminator 2proved beyond doubt that it was possible to take the concepts from the first movie and expand them into something even cooler. There is room for moreTerminatorstories, but the approaches chosen by films such asTerminator:SalvationandTerminator:Genisyswere not what the saga needed. WhileJames Cameron apparently working onTerminator 7is exciting, the future of the franchise should be on TV.
Terminator Zero Confirms Terminator May Be Better Off On TV
Terminator’s Anime Was Much Better Than Previous Movies
Terminator Zerohas an 86% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, the highest for aTerminatorproject sinceT2.Terminator Zero’s reception is much better than that of the films released afterT2, most of which have a “rotten” score on the famous review aggregator. The best-receivedTerminatormovie sinceT2wasTerminator:Dark Fate, which has a 70% critic score and an 82% audience score. The fact thatTerminator Zerohas received much better reviews than its predecessors, particularlySalvationandGenisys, confirms that takingTerminatorback to television was the right decision.
100
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Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
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46
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54
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79
TheTerminatorfranchise first jumped to television in 2006withThe Sarah Connor Chronicles. Set afterT2but disregarding the events of Rise of the Machines,The Sarah Connor Chroniclesworked as the properTerminator 2sequel that never happened on the big screen. WhileTerminator ZeroandThe Sarah Connor Chroniclesare very different shows – one is anime and the other is a live-action procedural after all – they both highlight how well theTerminatoruniverse fits on TV. Despite the scale oftheTerminatoruniverse,it welcomes “smaller” stories surprisingly well.
James Cameron was not involved with Terminator Zero.
Terminator Zero’s anime format meant that it did not have to worry about what it could pull off or not in terms of visuals. Still, the cool action sequences and the visuals were just part of the reason whyTerminator Zerowas so good. The Netflix anime did not ignore nostalgia entirely but still brought something fresh to the franchise, combining classicTerminatortropes with fresh ideas.Terminator Zero’s castwas formed by original characters instead of bringing back the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 or yet another version of John Connor.
It’s No Coincidence Terminator’s Best Projects Since T2 Were TV Shows
The Sarah Connor Chronicles And Terminator Zero Got A Lot Right
Big-budget movies associated with a famous IP have certain expectations to meet that might make it difficult for them to be a truly fresh, exciting story. Given how popular theTerminatormovies are, it is no surprise that every sequel ends up bringing back at least a couple of characters or concepts from previous entries. For example, the T-800 and its many variations have so far appeared in everyTerminatormovie. Likewise,John Connor has been in everyTerminatorfilm sinceT2, whereas Sarah Connor missedTerminator 3andSalvationbut was included inGenisysandDark Fate.
WhileTerminator Zeronever namedrops John Connor, it implies that Skynet and humanity have been on a loop involving time travel.
TV shows don’t have to deal with those same expectations, which often gives them more creative freedom compared to a blockbuster film.The Sarah Connor Chronicleshad a significant budget for a TV show, but it was a smaller project compared to the movies. This means that, while the firstTerminatorshow did not necessarily have the resources to have a scene like the T-1000 melting and putting itself together every episode, it had enough time to tell a funTerminatorstory.
Terminator’s Most Underrated Sequel Was A Better Follow-Up To Judgment Day Than The Arnold Schwarzenegger Movies
The Terminator franchise has struggled to find a movie worthy of following Judgment Day, but there has been a project that pulled it off.
Terminator Zerohad even fewer constraints thanThe Sarah Connor Chroniclesconsidering that it was animated. Additionally,Terminator Zero’s timelinedistanced itself just enough from that of the movies by establishing that every change to the past essentially creates a new version of the story. WhileTerminator Zeronever namedrops John Connor, it implies that Skynet and humanity have been on a loop involving time travel. This allowed the series to tell its own story without worrying about how it would fit the largerTerminatorcanon.
Terminator Zero Deserves A Better Fate Than The Sarah Connor Chronicles
The Sarah Connor Chronicles Was Canceled Too Soon
Terminator Zero’s endingis self-contained enough but leaves the door open for the story to continue. Similarly to the firstTerminatorfilm,the Netflix anime ends with the message that the future hasn’t been written yetand can always be changed. Kokoro saved Japan fromJudgment Day, but the fate of humanity is left open. Malcolm Lee is dead, but his kids – and his mother from the future – will now have to survive in the middle of a war involving Skynet, Kokoro, and humanity. There are more than enough ingredients forTerminator Zeroseason 2 to work.
Sadly,The Sarah Connor Chronicleswas canceled after just two seasons. The show never got a proper ending and could have led to a lot of great stories that unfortunately never happened. Hopefully,Terminator Zerowill have better luck than the franchise’s first TV show. While the anime series would work just fine as a standalone story, it would be a shame not to revisit this version of theTerminatoruniverse with a second season.Terminatorhas a complicated history with sequels, but I’m confident thatTerminator Zeroseason 2 would be a great one.
There Should Be More Terminator TV Shows After The Netflix Anime
Terminator Works On The Small Screen
Terminator Zeroshould be just one of manyTerminatorprojects for TV. Even if the theatrical movies remain the most important part of the franchise with new installments arriving every few years, theTerminatoruniverse is large enough to welcome stories likeTerminator Zeroon TV.The Sarah Connor Chroniclescame out on a very different TV landscape from what we have today, and it might have been too ambitious for an early 2000s show. However, virtually every major movie franchise has now partially branched to TV, from Marvel and DC to Star Wars.
James Cameron’s Secret Terminator Project Has Me Cautiously Excited After Genisys & Dark Fate’s Failures
James Cameron has confirmed he’s working on a new Terminator project but despite my disappointment with the last sequel, I’m still excited for it.
A big-budget live-actionTerminatorshow echoing projects like The Mandalorian or Andor would be incredibly exciting. The firstTerminatorfilm was pretty much a slasher and not a sci-fi epic, meaning thatTerminatordoesn’t need multiple set pieces and groundbreaking VFX shots in every scene to work. Hopefully,Terminator Zero’s strong reception will lead not only to a second season but also to moreTerminatorprojects for television.
