Netflix’s Terminator Zero sounds very exciting, but it is continuing a worrying Terminator tradition that began 16 years ago with The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008). Part of the reason why the Terminator movie timelines are so confusing is that the franchise includes a lot of retcons, reboots, and sequels that chose to ignore certain events. The Terminator lore will be expanded soon with Terminator Zero, an anime series from the studio behind Ghost in the Shell (1995) and other fan-favorite Japanese movies and TV shows.

Terminator Zero will tell a classic Terminator story, with a soldier from the future having to go back to the past and find a scientist who is working on a powerful artificial intelligence that could rival Skynet. From the serialized format to the possibilities of the animation media, Terminator Zero is expected to be very different from previous Terminator movies. Still, the series seems to be continuing a curious tradition that followed the release of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.

Terminator Zero Is Yet Another Terminator Project Ignoring Everything After T2

Terminator Zero Is Full Of Terminator 2 References (Including The Release Date)

Terminator Zero will take place in 2022 and 1997, the last of which is the year Skynet was activated and attacked humanity in the original Terminator 2: Judgement Day timeline. The fact that Terminator Zero‘s timeline follows the chronology in the first two Terminator movies is already a sign that the series will not incorporate elements from other movies and series that came after T2. Additionally, Netflix’s official Terminator Zero announcement included plenty of references to T2. This includes the show’s release date – August 29, 2024 – which is a reference to the Judgment Day date of August 29, 1997.

Terminator 2 takes place mostly in 1995, with John, Sarah, and the T-800 eventually preventing the 1997 nuclear war from happening. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, the first entry in the franchise not directed by James Cameron, would then reveal that the heroes simply postponed Judgment Day. The date in which Judgment Day happens as well as plenty of other aspects of the franchise would continue to be changed and retconned in future installments, all of which took place in their own continuity. Terminator Zero’s only connections to the movies so far are with the first two.

Why Terminator Movies & Shows Keep Ignoring Judgment Day’s Sequels

Terminator Never Found Itself Again After T2 – And That’s Worrying

If Terminator Zero does not reference or acknowledge any of the other entries in the Terminator franchise that came after T2, it will be yet another chapter in the series to do so. For example, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles ignored Rise of the Machines and worked as a direct sequel to Terminator 2. Likewise, Terminator: Salvation introduced a different date for Judgment Day and tried to work as a prequel to the first Terminator rather than a proper sequel to Rise of the Machines. Genisys was a new timeline entirely, whereas Dark Fate ignored all Terminator 2 sequels.

Of course, Terminator Zero is a standalone anime series that tells a brand-new story within the Terminator universe. The show will most likely not have too many connections to the movies and will focus on its original characters instead. Still, the fact that one of the most exciting Terminator projects in years is a different interpretation of the franchise in a media it had never explored yet rather than a theatrical sequel to the previous movies is telling. Terminator never had another critically acclaimed hit after Terminator 2, which is disappointing given the franchise’s massive pop culture legacy.