The Terminator franchise is one of the most iconic action film series to have been born out of the 1980s and continue on into modern times. Despite mixed reception to its recent films, diehard fans will always reminisce on James Cameron’s acclaimed first two films that gave birth to the iconic Terminator and set the standard for big sci-fi action movies.
Now receiving its first animated entry, Terminator Zero transports cyborg and humanity’s fight for the future to late 1990s Japan, where a scientist is developing a rival AI system to combat the insidious Skynet. This time, however, a new Terminator seeks to eliminate the scientist and what stands in his way is a resistance fighter sent from the future of 2022.
Anime Trending had a chance to interview head showrunner, executive producer, and writer Mattson Tomlin and director Masashi Kudo to discuss Terminator Zero’s development, its new cast of characters, and the creative ways of demonstrating violence with minimal gun usage.
Masashi Kudo — Director
How did you get involved in Terminator Zero, and were you familiar with the franchise before?
Masahi Kudo: It was probably three or four years ago when Production I.G first approached me. The producer [from there] told me that, “Well, we have this project.” When I heard the title, I actually asked him, “Are you asking about that Terminator?!” Obviously, I’m a huge fan of the franchise. I’ve watched all the films from the first one to the latest one. So when I heard the title of this project, I was just surprised.
The Terminator film series began in the 80’s and the most recent film came out in 2019. What makes the anime series distinctly modern, and does it have any elements inspired by the older films?
Kudo: This is the first time we set the story in Japan and we wanted to bring the horror back that was present in the first Terminator film. That was the core of the project this time.
You mentioned that the series is set in Japan where guns are outlawed, and the film series features a lot of gunfights and action-packed scenes. What was it like navigating that requirement for this series?
Kudo: Like you said, it was very difficult to put together this really large-scale gun action scene [in the series]. I discussed this a lot with Mattson, and the people who have access to guns are police officers, so you would have to grab it and take it away, or steal it from [them].
But the guns that the police have aren’t that powerful, so the gun fights won’t become bombastic action scenes. We wanted to be creative about these action scenes, so that it would be very exciting to watch, but [are also] very different and new.
What influence did previous Terminators have on this new series?
Kudo: In terms of the endoskeleton, we referenced the T-800 that appeared in the first two Terminator films. But when it’s in its human form, the skeleton is a really humongous, Caucasian western body.
In Terminator Zero, this Terminator needs to infiltrate Japan and hide his identity, so he needed to be the right size to fit in with the Japanese physical body. So with the model itself, we referenced the T-800, but it’s [designed] slightly slimmer than the original.
With this new series, we have many new main characters. What can you tell us about these characters? How do they compare to some of the original character dynamics from the films?
Kudo: In terms of the characters, we don’t have Sarah Connor or John Connor, but all-new characters that appear for the first time in this series. Instead of trying to [become] an extension of all the previous films, we wanted to have fresh, new characters.
If you look at a character like Eiko, she’s a strong female character [that] takes on that very strong lead [role] like Sarah Connor from the third film onwards. That was something we discussed when we designed the characters.
What are the main highlights of Terminator: Zero, and what should fans of the Terminator franchise look forward to the most?
Kudo: We do bring in the horror from the first Terminator film. Instead of these big bombastic action [scenes], there’s a more creepy, airy, unsettling vibe that we will bring to the screen. I hope that the fans will enjoy that!
Mattson Tomlin — Showrunner, Executive Producer & Writer
What was your influence behind the story and characters in Terminator Zero?
Mattson Tomlin: I think that the starting point was just the fact that it’s Terminator. Just rewatching all of the movies and looking at the franchise as a whole had me going, “What are people excited about? Why is this still around after 40 years?” There are plenty of things that are 40-50 years old that don’t exist in 2024 at this level. So why is it still here?
I had to come to some kind of understanding about that, such as what makes Terminator feel like Terminator, what doesn’t, what makes it feel like something else, and what’s gonna piss fans off. Then, I started challenging myself to go, “You know, there’s an opportunity here because it’s the first animated piece of Terminator media. That in itself is different.” There’s been a television show [for the Terminator franchise], but never an animated television show. Those are all the invitations to try to just do something a little bit different with it.
For me, the thing that makes Terminator is a tremendous amount of heart that is [centered around] the story of a family. I think that that’s what really makes the first two movies work. [Aside from that], the first movie just scared the sh*t out of me. I knew that I wanted to kind of bring the series back to its horror roots because since Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the series has been very synonymous with $100 million+ blockbuster action films.
I love that [and] I think that that’s great. But when trying to figure out how to justify Terminator: Zero’s existence, the answer for me was, “Well, let’s go back to the horror roots because that’s something that we haven’t really seen for 40 years.”
One thing that sticks out in Terminator: Zero is the decision to set the show in Tokyo in 1997, especially for how difficult it is for the characters to acquire their weapons. So you don’t have as much large-scale action, but the show goes into a slasher-horror setting. What were some of the other unique aspects of the setting and deciding to set the show in Tokyo?
Tomlin: When I started working on the show, I hadn’t been to Japan. I went, “Okay, I have an idea of what Tokyo is because of media, but what’s real? Like, what’s actually going on there?” I started doing a lot of reading with some books, fiction and nonfiction, and talking to the team. The gun thing caught me by surprise because I had an idea that stricter gun laws meant like you had to just pass a test.
I started writing a scene where Eiko is looking for a gun and smashes open a cab of a truck to get a gun from the glove box, and that got flagged instantly. The Japanese staff said, “No, that would never happen here because there would be no gun there [in the first place]. The Japanese military and the police would have the guns, but otherwise, it’s not a thing [for civilians].” A lot of it was just kind of stuff like that.
I really leaned on my partners at Production I.G because I wouldn’t be in Tokyo in 1997 — I would’ve been seven years old. I told them, ”You guys are gonna have to render this in a way that feels realized, lived in, and wholly true to the people who were there, but also make this unique for the show. Meanwhile, it’s my job to make sure that the characters are being served and to make sure that this ride that we’re on is an emotional one.”
You mention Production I.G again because this is the first anime series in the Terminator franchise. What led to the decision to make Terminator: Zero into an anime and what were some of the strengths of settling and working with the studio to create it?
Tomlin: Yeah, all of that came before me. When I got the call from Netflix, they were like, “We’ve partnered with Skydance who owns the rights to Terminator. We’ve partnered with Production I.G. We wanna do an animated show — It’s gonna be a proper anime with a team that’s all in Japan. We’re looking for a writer.” I wasn’t part of putting that team together — I was kind of the last piece. [But because it was under] Production I.G, I already knew about them and their previous work. So, I was just really playing to the strengths of that studio and putting myself in their hands so that we could all make the best possible work that we could.
We had a really fun collaboration. You know, it was tough — I don’t speak Japanese, and most of them do not speak English. All of our meetings involved literal translators with headphones for the different channels. It was a whole thing. But in doing that, it forced us to just get more and more specific about what we were after to make sure that nothing got lost in literal translation. I’m proud of what we did, and I’m proud of what they did. So, here we are!
Terminator: Zero features a new cast of characters separate from the original canon. What were some of your favorite aspects of writing these characters, such as the Terminator who is played by Timothy Olyphant? What does this Terminator bring to the series?
Tomlin: Yeah, there’ve been a lot of Terminators. There’ve been a lot of good Terminators and bad Terminators, and then there’s the original Terminator [played by Arnold Schwarzenegger]. [At some point, I realized that] you’re in his shadow — you’re standing on his shoulders. So for me, it was an aspect of I got to figure out, such as “Are we doing a big Terminator? Are we doing a cool Terminator? Are we doing a sexy Terminator?” And the answer was kind of none of those things.
Instead, it was upon hearing that when James Cameron was making the first movie, he was going to cast Lance Henriksen as the Terminator, and that Henriksen would play an infiltrator. He’d look like any normal guy — he could slip in and slip out wherever, and you would never know it was him. That was the horror vibe. And then going, well, Arnold Schwarzenegger is Arnold f**king Schwarzenegger and he’s not slipping in or out anywhere.
Just kind of realizing that that initial conception didn’t make it to the movies had me going, “Okay, I’m gonna have my Terminator not be in a leather jacket or have sunglasses, not be “bad to the bone,” and not be as cool. But they can be a little scary, be a little cross-eyed, seem a little slimy, and be kind of the definition of don’t-wanna-meet-them-in-a-dark-alley.” So it was really just kind of going, “How do I keep it Terminator, but not just do the same thing?”
Do you have any closing thoughts for fans of anime who might be watching the Terminator series for the first time?
Tomlin: I mean, it’s very cool to me that somebody is watching Terminator: Zero as their entry into the Terminator franchise. I would say, whether or not you watch the movies or TV show first, it doesn’t really matter. I just hope people really like this. It’s been four years of very hard work.
Special thanks to Netflix for the interview opportunity. Terminator Zero is now streaming on the service as of August 29, 2024.
This interview was conducted by Nico Monterosso and William Moo. Interview questions were submitted by Melvyn Tan and Nico Monterosso.
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