The iconic time-traveling swordsman makes his return to the small screen 12 years after being cut from Cartoon Network’s prime time block.
The original run of Samurai Jack premiered on Cartoon Network back in August, 2001 with a highly praised three-part special. The show followed the tale of Jack, a samurai sent into the distant future by the demon Aku, as he sets out on a quest to return to his time and slay the evil demon. The network went on to order 4 more seasons worth of content, amounting to a total of 52 episodes. Samurai Jack would go on to win a multitude of awards, including the Primetime Emmy Award for outstanding animated program in 2004. The final episode was aired in September, 2004.
On December 2, 2015 Adult Swim released a teaser trailer for the series and announced that a new season for the show was currently in production at Cartoon Network Studios and would return in 2016 as a part of the Toonami block on the network. It was also announced that the shows creator, Genndy Tartakovsky, would be a part of the shows return as executive producer.
The Annecy International Animation Film Festival announced that a preview of the show will premier at a new section of the festivals Work in Progress sessions dedicated to to animated TV series, and will feature Genndy Tartakovsky as a speaker. The sessions focus on providing the audience with an in depth look at the various stages that go into the development of an animated TV series, and offers audience members the opportunity to view what struggles that are faced during production as well as the ability to ask the creators about their artistic choices and plans for the project. The Festival will be held from June 13 to June 18 in France, with the Samurai Jack session being held on June 15.
This announcement comes during a surge of animated TV show revivals, such as the recent Hey Arnold! The Jungle Movie which is scheduled for release on Nickelodeon sometime in 2017. Cartoon Network has also recently released a remake of the popular animated series The Powerpuff Girls which has received mixed reviews. Many enjoy the nostalgia the remake brings and the addition of more content within the universe, but others criticize the poor voice acting and lack of quality content, claiming it does not contain what made the original series so great. The Remake of the show also lacks the support of the shows original creator, who released a tweet stating his position on the new series.
With Samurai Jack retaining Genndy Tartakovsky and offering a preview as to how the show is developing, fans can be more optimistic that the continuation of the series will remain as entertaining and gritty as it was during its original run. There has been no official release date as of yet, but the show is expected to premier sometime in the 2016 to 2017 season.