Genndy Tartakovsky on The Return of Samurai Jack

The Sword Is Unsheathed Again

♦Acclaimed animated series Samurai Jack returns to TV this March, with season 5 on Adult Swim. Here is its creator Genndy Tartakovsky talking about it at last summer’s SDCC, courtesy of Nerd Reactor…

Here’s what wikipedia had to say about the new run: The fifth season of Samurai Jack is the upcoming final season for the animated series. It will premiere on the Toonami programming block on Adult Swim on March 11, 2017. The announcement of the season was made back in December 2015, eleven years since the series was originally concluded on Cartoon Network. Genndy Tartakovsky, the series’ creator, returns as executive producer for this season.

Created by Genndy Tartakovsky, Samurai Jack originally aired on Cartoon Network from 2001 to 2004, comprising four seasons. The series follows a young samurai (voiced by Phil LaMarr) who is cast into the future by the evil shape-shifting demon Aku (Mako Iwamatsu) mere moments before defeating the demon. He adopts the name Jack and continues his fight in the dystopian future ruled by Aku. Jack seeks to find a portal back to his time but is constantly thwarted by the demon’s forces. The series was left open-ended since 2004. Tartakovsky previously expressed interest in a film adaptation of the series to provide a genuine conclusion, but the project never materialized.

Phil LaMarr will reprise his role as Jack. Jack is significantly different this season from prior appearances, both in terms of his character design and in terms of his personality: he has a beard and wears armor; he uses firearms and has become more like Aku in a way; he’s dealt with many things and now he’s lost, trying to find his way.

Due to the passing of Mako Iwamatsu in 2006, who originally voiced the series’ lead villain Aku, Tartakovsky at first considered using a completely different voice for the character. However, considering how Mako’s voice was an important element of the character, Tartakovsky stated that he has hired “a guy who does a pretty good imitation; I’ll be upfront about it—nobody can replace Mako.”

Tartakovsky, at a panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2016, confirmed that the Scotsman will return to the series.