After 12 years, Genndy Tartakovskyâs cult hit cartoon Samurai Jack is finally returning on March 11 for a 10-episode revival on Adult Swim. This wonât be a tease for a few more years of increasingly melancholy and thrillingly stylish adventures from Tartakovsky and his reticent warrior, though, as heâs actually planning to give the show a proper finale this time around. During the showâs original run, Tartakovsky took a break to work on an animated Clone Wars miniseries that predated the computer-animated show, and when he was ready to come back to Samurai Jack, Cartoon Network no longer had room on its schedule.
Tartakovsky talked about the showâs conclusion in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, and he says this revival will present a âdefinitive endâ for the show. He hasnât seen the last episode yet, but he did the storyboards and thought it was âsuper satisfying,â so it âshould close the doorâ for both him and Samurai Jack. He does admit that the 50-year time jump between this new fifth season and the fourth season 12 years ago makes it possible for someone to come and fill in the gaps in the story, but Tartakovsky says it wonât be him doing it. For now, heâs just happy to have this chance to âdive into the madness of Jackâ with the revivalâs âmature style of storytelling.â
Elsewhere in the interview, Tartakovsky confirmed that the Samurai Jack comic book series published by IDW from 2013 to 2015 is not canon, and though he knows that the book had fans, he thinks the only proper way to conclude Jackâs story is with a TV showâspecifically the one heâs making right now. âItâs not part of my Jack universe,â Tartakovsky says, adding that he thinks it was âwrong of themâ to try and finish the story themselves. That presumably means the real Samurai Jack finale wonât be anything like the one in the comics, but it still doesnât tell us much.
