After a string of disappointing movie sequels, Netflix is prepping a Terminator anime show, and that's probably the best possible route forward. Movie history is littered with examples of classics that went on to inspire sub-par franchises. For example, Jaws led to the abysmal Jaws 4's roaring shark, The Exorcist led to Exorcist 2's utter insanity, and Die Hard led to A Good Day to Die Hard's bland, rote action. Sadly, the Terminator franchise sits among, or at least close to, that dubious group.
There is of course the bright shining light in the Terminator sequel darkness, that being Terminator 2: Judgment Day, a sequel so great that many believe it tops the original. The fact that visionary director James Cameron returned no doubt played a big part in that success. From there though, everything has been decent at best and awful at worst. Terminator: Dark Fate managed to get the best reviews since the Oscar-winning Terminator 2 in 2019 - which is a bit of a backhanded compliment - but by that point, fans had tuned out, and it sank like a stone at the box office.
Despite that, the Terminator franchise is still seen as a potentially lucrative property, especially since it's far from limited to movies, with TV shows, video games, toys, and just about every other type of tie-in having been made to suck up fan dollars. Hollywood will likely never give up on it, as evidenced by Netflix's upcoming Terminator anime. Surprisingly enough, this will mark Terminator's first-ever foray into animation, and thankfully, it couldn't be coming at a better time for the franchise.
After three straight films that proved to be some level of flop, and Terminator 3 only generally regarded as being decent by most, it's fair to say that none of the studios involved seem to know exactly how to get the movie franchise back on track. While Terminator 7 seems inevitable, at the same time, taking a break from the big screen for a while is a terrific idea and one the rights holders should embrace. Focusing on an anime show for Netflix presents a great opportunity to keep the franchise alive and relevant, but also take creative chances most studios are hesitant to take when releasing $100-$200 million blockbusters.
Terminator as a property badly needs some new life injected into it somehow, especially after trying to bring back the trio of James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Linda Hamilton did nothing to save Dark Fate at the box office. Short of Cameron returning as Terminator director to save things, which seems unlikely considering his Avatar commitments, the Terminator movies need to change things up, and the Netflix anime can be used as a proving ground for new ideas and characters to see if fans are willing to embrace them. While the anime doesn't necessarily need to ignore the prior continuity, that may actually be better, considering how much it's been twisted by Genisys and Dark Fate. While details on the anime show are scarce, as it was only announced a few months back, this Netflix project could be the exact shot in the arm Terminator needs.