Netflix has quietly cancelled “Terminator Zero,” the anime series set in the Terminator universe that ran for one season in 2024, creator/showrunner Mattson Tomlin confirmed on Twitter.
“It was cancelled,” Tomlin wrote. “The critical and audience reception to it was tremendous, but at the end of the day not nearly enough people watched it. I would’ve loved to deliver on the Future War I had planned in season’s 2 and 3, but I’m also very happy with how it feels contained as is.”
There is a chance Tomlin will tell the rest of his story in another format. “Maybe I will return to that world in a different form,” he said. “I really do love it, and it was extremely gratifying to see so many people connect with it the way they did.”
He added, “Maybe someday I’ll do a big thread about the plans I had for the full five season run. The series finale was special and it was part of my pitch to get the job. I’ve written all of the season two scripts and outlined pretty much all of season three.”
Tomlin remains respectful toward Netflix, who offered him the chance to produce a few more episodes to wrap up the narrative, which he declined.
“Netflix was really great about supporting the show and giving me tremendous creative freedom to do what I wanted to do,” he wrote. “The show was expensive and very time consuming. The only way they could justify it was if the audience showed up for it, and they just didn’t.”
He continued, “I’ll also say they offered to let me do 2, maybe 3 episodes more to wrap up the story, which I declined. I felt the story I wanted to tell was much longer, and the finale of season one actually left things in a good place. But they didn’t have to offer that. Good partners here.”
In “Terminator Zero,” a warrior from a post-apocalyptic future travels to 1997 to protect an AI scientist being hunted by an unfeeling and indestructible cyborg.
André Holland, Sonoya Mizuno, Sumalee Montano, Armani Jackson, Gideon Adlon, Carter Rockwood, Rosario Dawson, and Timothy Olyphant lead the voice cast.
Daniel Kurland wrote in his review, “Terminator Zero turns to a striking anime aesthetic that breathes fresh life into the flailing sci-fi franchise and helps it break exciting, new ground.”
Tomlin is staying plenty busy, working on the scripts for Matt Reeves’ The Batman: Part II, an adaptation of Keanu Reeves’ BRZRKR comic, and a John Wick spinoff centered on Donnie Yen’s Caine.