2015 has been a great year for pop culture, but here’s another reason to look forward to 2016: Cartoon Network has just announced the return of Genndy Tartakovsky’s iconic series Samurai Jack. Even though it’s been off the air since 2004, the fanbase has stayed strong; all the network released was a brief teaser on the Adult Swim Facebook page and a poster, and already it’s trending on Twitter.
No surprise, considering that Tartakovsky’s landmark series merged sci-fi and samurai stories in terms of content and featured animation that paid homage to classic samurai films. Samurai Jack made an impact even when it first aired during the early ’00s, and was one of the high points of Tartakovsky’s career—though it’s difficult to choose just one, since his other credits include The Powerpuff Girls, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Steven Universe. Even better, Tartakovsky himself will be returning to helm the new Samurai Jack!
I’ll be honest, I never really watched Samurai Jack while it was on the air; when it came to Toonami, I was more interested in Sailor Moon and ReBoot. But I always appreciated it for its clearly elevated aesthetic, and I’m incredibly glad to see a show that didn’t get its due a decade ago have the chance to return. A lot of reboots and remakes are the crummy properties with no stories left to tell; that’s not the case for Samurai Jack.
