Get ready, “Samurai Jack” fans. The long wait is almost over.
On Sunday night, Adult Swim announced the premiere date for the long-anticipated fifth and final season of the critically acclaimed Cartoon Network series.
The ten-episode season will begin on March 11 and will pick up fifty years after the titular samurai’s odyssey through the future began.
Premiering back in 2001, “Samurai Jack” has won four Emmys and six Annie awards for its unique visual style, extended fight scenes, and a frequent lack of dialogue throughout its 52-episode run. The series told the story of a samurai who sought to free his village from Aku, an evil shapeshifter. But before he could be defeated, Aku sent the samurai into the future, where the villain’s reign has extended over the world. The samurai, who adopts the name Jack from admiring locals, then goes on a quest to find a way to return to his own time. The show’s last episode aired in September 2004.
Series creator Genndy Tartakovsky (“Dexter’s Laboratory”; “Hotel Transylvania”) says that the final season will use its new home on Adult Swim to show a darker, more violent spin on Jack’s world as his quest finally comes to an end. A teaser picture for the series showed a disheveled, blood-covered Jack wielding his katana in the middle of a torrential downpour. Phil LaMarr will return to voice Jack, while a new voice actor will come on to voice Aku. Mako Iwamatsu, who voiced Aku in the original series, died in 2006.
Watch the premiere date announcement in a clip captured by Twitter used @caboosejr below.
The premiere of the new season of Samurai Jack has finally been revealed. pic.twitter.com/qicRjJOYD4
— Nate (@CabooseJr) January 23, 2017