Anime, Terminator Zero has officially been cancelled after one season, according to series creator Mattson Tomlin.
The confirmation came directly from Tomlin on his official X account after a fan asked about the show’s status.
“It was cancelled. 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.”
The Netflix anime series, which reimagined the iconic Terminator franchise in animated form, will not move forward with the previously envisioned multi-season arc.
Tomlin also revealed that Netflix offered him the opportunity to produce additional episodes to wrap up the story, but he chose not to accept the offer.
“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.”
Despite the cancellation, Tomlin repeatedly emphasized that Netflix supported the show creatively and commercially.
“Netflix was really great about supporting the show and giving me tremendous creative freedom to do what I wanted to do. Good partners. 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.”
Possible Return “In a Different Form”
While Terminator Zero won’t continue as originally planned, Tomlin suggested the universe may not be completely closed off.
“Maybe I will return to that world in a different form. I really do love it, and it was extremely gratifying to see so many people connect with it the way they did.”
In another message, he added:
“Amazing to wake up to the love for Terminator Zero. It was a challenge to go into a franchise with that much baggage and find a way to reconnect with fans and take it somewhere new. I’m glad we were successful in that for so many of you. I hope to return to that world someday.”
Audience Gap Between Anime and Terminator Fans
Tomlin also reflected on what may have contributed to the cancellation, pointing to demographic differences between traditional anime viewers and long-time Terminator fans.
“Generally speaking, anime audiences skew younger. Terminator audiences skew older. Terminator Zero asked them to meet in the middle, and they didn’t in the way the corporation needed to justify the spend to continue. I’m extremely grateful to the people who have watched it.”
He further addressed concerns that Netflix may not have supported the show sufficiently:
“At the end of the day, you can’t reach everyone. We did big, in-person premier events in NY and LA, a pretty robust press junket for an animated series, and it lived on the front page of Netflix for 2+ weeks. I feel like NF did right by the series…”
According to Tomlin, the show was both expensive and time-consuming to produce. While he noted that reception from critics and audiences was strong, viewership numbers ultimately did not meet the threshold needed to continue such a high-budget animated production.
Despite the cancellation, Tomlin expressed gratitude toward fans and maintained that Season 1 stands as a complete and satisfying story.
For now, Terminator Zero remains a standalone chapter in the long-running Terminator franchise, though its creator has not ruled out revisiting the world in another format someday.
Source: X (Tomlin Mattson)
