New promo art for Samurai Jack was recently released, and it shows the beloved samurai looking not quite as he used to.
Well, 50 years of being stuck with the demon Aku will change you.
The promo art was revealed at France's Annecy Festival D'Animation, and according to the panel, the new series will take place 50 years after Jack was sucked into the future. That means not only five decades of trying to find his way back to his own time but five decades as well of battles with Aku. As such, our protagonist's story has taken a darker turn, much darker than anything that has been tackled in the show. Then again, the new Samurai Jack will be shown on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block, making more mature themes feel right at home.
The original Samurai Jack ran for 52 episodes across four seasons before it ended in 2004. By then, it had cultivated quite a following that have been clamoring for the series' return for years. At the most, reruns were shown on Boomerang for a while before Toonami was relaunched in 2014.
IDW did have a Samurai Jack comic series, and it sought to continue the show through new storylines. It is not clear as well if the new show will be using stories from the comics or if it will follow its own tales.
Last year, it was announced that the show will be making a comeback in 2016. According to Cartoon Network, production for the new Samurai Jack is underway as of December 2015.
Samurai Jack : 10 épisodes pensés comme un film de 5h. Plus noir. Plus adulte. Ca clôturera l'histoire. pic.twitter.com/lrULXeBWOM
— Alexandre Loos (@AlexLoos) June 15, 2016
Before this promo art, a teaser was released hinting at Jack's new look, the light to Aku's dark. Adult Swim also posted a short video on its website showcasing storyboards being narrated by Genndy Tartakovsky, Samurai Jack's creator, himself. The video gave fans a glimpse at what Aku could look like in the new series as well as the kind of environment the series will be shown in.
Tartakovsky has not shared any details about the new Samurai Jack's exact release date but did say it is well on its way "in the near future." Additionally, it will have 10 episodes paced more along the lines of a five-hour movie instead of individual stories, like how Samurai Jack was originally shown.
What do you think of the new Samurai Jack? Let us know in the comments below!
