Netflix releases a first look at the upcoming Terminator Zero anime series where it’s learned the series apparently won’t have guns that the movies are known for which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Wouldn’t that be like John Wick with no guns?
According to the series creator, Mattson Tomlin, who helped write The Batman, when he pitched the series as being set in Japan, he didn’t realize there are no guns in Japan.
So apparently, that means when the Terminator and the soldier from the future come back in time and can’t find any guns, what they find is swords, and have a big sword fight.
“My partners at Production I.G came back and said, ‘Hey, so…there are no guns [in Japan]. If we needed a gun, we don’t know where we would get it.’ It was just such a stunning moment for me, like, ‘Oh, wow, I am an American,’” Tomlin told EW.com.
(My note: Actually, there are guns in Japan, as the police and the military have guns, as do hunters and target shooters, but Japan has draconian gun laws, but whatever, right?)
“If I was going to fight a Terminator and I don’t have guns, what are the weapons that I could concoct?” pondered Tomlin.
Note: the series is not set in feudal Japan, it’s set in 1997.
Additional details include the anime will feature all new original characters and the characters from the movies won’t be in the series (Sarah Connor, John Connor, etc).
The description in the article offers:
The show primarily takes place in Japan in the year 1997, on the cusp of Judgement Day, the pivotal moment when Skynet’s military A.I. network becomes self-aware leading to a decades-spanning war between an endless army of machines and the human survivors. There are still the familiar Terminator beats: A soldier from this hellish future is sent back in time to protect a scientist named Malcolm Lee, who is working to launch a competing A.I. system to Skynet. An unrelenting machine assassin in the guise of a human is hunting him, which also puts his three children in harm’s way.
The previously released synopsis from Netflix offers:
Caught between the future and this past is a soldier sent back in time to change the fate of humanity. She 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. As Malcolm navigates the moral complexities of his creation, he is hunted by an unrelenting assassin from the future which forever alters the fate of his three children.
Tomlin also compares his Terminator to being more of a serial killer (note: neither Jason or Freddy use guns.).
“There’s a completely valid version of the Terminator franchise where the Terminator is synonymous with Jason [Voorhees] and Freddy [Krueger], where he is this unrelenting serial killer,” he explained. “There’s a little bit of Friday the 13th in here. There’s a little bit of Michael Myers [from Halloween] in here.”
The EW.com articles ends with: “Just no guns.”
Terminator Zero debuts Thursday, August 29, at 3 a.m. ET/12 a.m. PT on Netflix with all eight episodes.
Update: Tomlin responded to my complaints via Twitter which includes an image of a gun, so I’m not sure what the EW.com article is trying to say (and I also had to shut down a few trolls).
then why is the EW article all about no guns? Odd. pic.twitter.com/Lb65GCCtAh
— Cosmic Book News (@cosmicbooknews) May 15, 2024
Random article? It’s an exclusive https://t.co/Vl1yz86D4t article and interview. Hello.
— Cosmic Book News (@cosmicbooknews) May 15, 2024
well then @EW should fix their article, it clearly says no guns multiple times and Tomlin even says he was told that. pic.twitter.com/b9A9Ikrce3
— Cosmic Book News (@cosmicbooknews) May 15, 2024
Terminator Zero images:
