Summary

• Terminator Zero shifts focus from old characters to new ones, signaling positive change for the franchise's future.
• An animated series like Terminator Zero can revitalize interest in the franchise, moving beyond box office struggles.
• The premise of Terminator Zero sets the stage for creative storytelling and proves that a sequel like Terminator 7 is unnecessary.

Plans for an upcoming installment in the Terminator franchise indicate an exciting new future for the saga, moving the long-running sci-fi series beyond original star Arnold Schwarzenegger and a potential Terminator 7 movie. Announced by Netflix, Terminator Zero is an animated series that is set to reshape the Terminator series' convoluted timeline once again, being set at a crucial juncture in the overall story. However, despite this potential for complication, the show is a much more positive step than other possible options.

Unlike other recent additions in the Terminator series, Terminator Zero has made an explicit commitment to move beyond franchise stalwarts like Sarah and John Connor, Kyle Reese, and, in particular, Schwarzenegger's titular cyborg. In a press release, Netflix has confirmed that "the eight-episode series will be part of the Terminator universe but will center around new characters". While this means leaving behind major players who have shaped the Terminator franchise for 40 years, it is also the best decision possible for the series' future.

The Terminator Movie Franchise Has Been Struggling For Years

While an animated series with an all-new cast of characters is a bold move for a franchise that has broadly been movie-based, Terminator Zero's new format is a tacit acceptance that Terminator movies are no longer the box office draw they once were. From the heady days of the series' early entries (with Terminator 2 generally accepted to be the third-highest-grossing movie ever made at the time of release), the series has seen underwhelming recent returns – culminating in Dark Fate's $261 million global box office – the worst in the series, after the low-budget success of the first film.

Although some entries, such as Terminator Salvation and Terminator Genisys performed reasonably at the box office, where the franchise has really struggled is with the critics. Until Dark Fate corrected the trend, the films had been on a steep downward trajectory since Rise of the Machines, with each movie securing progressively worse critical scores. This, combined with innumerable retcons, reboots, and timeline changes, made the Terminator franchise both incoherent and underwhelming. The fact that most critics considered Dark Fate a major improvement, and it still bombed at the box office highlights the depth of the issues with the franchise.

Terminator Zero Is Exactly The Kind Of Shift The Franchise Needed After Dark Fate

Dark Fate presented an interesting problem for the entire Terminator franchise. On the one hand, the movie is generally regarded as a return to form and a huge improvement over the previous two entries. On the other, the film underperformed so badly at the box office that it made clear that something radical was needed to reignite audience interest in Terminator as a property. As an animated series with new characters and little connection to what's come before, Terminator Zero has the potential to be exactly that kind of radical step.

Setting up a new story while still adhering to the basic, time-traveling Terminator premise is exactly the kind of direction the franchise needs to move in. However, there's also evidence that the long-term future of the Terminator series has always been on TV. Although it was canceled, many fans praise the Fox series The Sarah Connor Chronicles as the best entry in the franchise since the original trilogy, highlighting how the TV format is perfectly suited to the wider story. Although Terminator Zero will not involve Sarah Connor herself, the show can still provide an important template for how to handle a Terminator story more episodically.

Terminator Zero Proves Terminator 7 Doesn't Need To Happen

The fact that the franchise looks set to radically reinvent itself is both an exciting and bold move, while also providing a clear indication that a potential Terminator 7 movie is unnecessary. While this is not to say the franchise has no cinematic future, any film that follows the previous theatrical template of bringing back an older Schwarzenegger alongside other characters from the franchise's history would be a bad idea. The combination of Terminator Genisys and Dark Fate has proved that such stories are either unsatisfying or hold little audience appeal.

...the premise for Terminator Zero proves that the franchise has plenty of interesting creative avenues to explore.

By contrast, the premise for Terminator Zero proves that the franchise has plenty of interesting creative avenues to explore. According to the official Netflix synopsis, the show will feature a soldier who "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." Already, this setup has introduced multiple new elements to the saga that won't necessarily alter the fundamentals of the story. TV shows like Terminator Zero provide a better avenue for Terminator to explore these stories before recommitting to another risky movie.