Terminator Zero Preview Clip Blurs The Line Between The Past And The Future

Prior to Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Terminator Genisys, the franchise’s continuity held together pretty well. Judgment Day was originally set to happen on August 29, 1997, until it was pushed back by the events of Terminator 2. Netflix’s upcoming anime series, Terminator Zero, is picking up on that thread by showing viewers what was happening in Japan as the countdown to Judgment Day was nearly over. And in a new extended preview clip from the series, the events of 1997 appear to coincide with the birth of a Terminator in the future.

Although the clip features no dialogue, it doesn’t have trouble conveying the story through on-screen text. In 1997, scientist Malcolm Lee has a vision of his A.I. creation, Kokoro, which is a rival to Skynet. And in the future, Skynet commissions a single Terminator with one purpose: To travel back in time and murder Malcolm before Kokoro can be activated in Japan.

From the previously released trailers, we know that the human resistance will send a female soldier named Eiko back in time to protect Malcolm from the assassination attempt. But when the Terminator can’t reach Malcolm, it will target his young children.

Timothy Olyphant voices the primary Terminator in the series, while André Holland portrays Malcolm, and Sonoya Mizuno plays Eiko. Rosario Dawson co-stars as the voice of Kokoro alongside Ann Dowd as The Prophet.

All eight episodes of Terminator Zero will premiere on Netflix on this year’s Judgment Day, August 29.