Though it isn’t mentioned in the same breath as, say, Joss Whedon’s Firefly, the fact that Samurai Jack was pulled off Cartoon Network’s slate in 2004 before delivering a fitting conclusion to Jack’s saga is often cited as one of the biggest injustices in television.
In those intervening years, legendary animator and series director Genndy Tartakovsky consistently flirted with the possibility of revisiting the time-travelling warrior of old and now, thanks to an alliance between Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, Jack is finally – finally! – back, and it seems the years have not been kind to Tartakovsky’s greatest creation. Pegged for a premiere on March 11th, the fifth and final season of Samurai Jack takes place some 50 years after the events of season four. Haunted by a malevolent demon known as Aku, Jack finds himself trapped in a strange, mind-bending techno-dystopia, doomed to roam the land for all eternity on his lonesome.
It has all the makings of a fitting conclusion to Samurai Jack, and today brings forth the suitably stylish trailer for Jack’s impending swan song. Boasting that stark visual style the series is celebrated for, up above you’ll get a sense of the nightmarish scenario facing Jack and, crucially, how he plans to get out. Genndy Tartakovsky is attached to executive produce the new and indeed final run of episodes.
Here’s the official logline:
“It’s been 50 years since we saw Samurai Jack and time has not been kind to him. Aku has destroyed every time portal and Jack has stopped aging, a side effect of time travel. It seems he is cursed to just roam the land for all eternity.”
Samurai Jack returns for a fifth and final season on Saturday, March 11th on Adult Swim. The only question left now is, will you be tuning in?