Adult Swim Con: Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time Preview and Genndy Tartakovsky Q&A

Most of us look back on when Samurai Jack came out as if it was an entire lifetime ago.  

Alright, it has been at least half a lifetime for most of us having premiered in 2001.

Still, Samurai Jack continues to gain popularity, and only managed a true conclusion to the story in 2017. 14 years after the fourth season. Even then, fans clamour for even more content.

Thankfully, the powers that be have answered back by developing an all-new adventure in the form of a video game, Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time.

Despite being announced to the public months ago, the game is currently available for pre-order and will be available on August 21. Fans have been eagerly awaiting more information on the new title and were treated to a trailer just a few days ago:

Even more information was released today as part of Adult Swim Con, Adult Swim’s answer to San Diego Comic-Con being cancelled for the year.

Besides more peaks at the gameplay, the virtual con brought Samurai Jack head writer, Derrick Bachman, and show creator Genndy Tartakovsky together for a special panel.

The masterminds behind the beloved series conversed about the new game’s inception, development, and how it fits into Jack’s continuity.

The goal being that the game would find an appropriate place within the tale that has already been told. 

Though Tartakovsky didn’t seem as averse to another run at Samurai Jack as he had been after season 5 was first released. Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time not only takes place in a snippet of time within the animated series but is an amalgamation of the complete story.

All the beloved characters are set to make a return in the virtual world. The original voice cast even returned to reprise their individual roles. And Derrick Bachman took the reigns once more to head the writing and keep the story relevant. Which is ideal as he admits to approaching the project the same as he would an episode of the original series, with a few minor tweaks for gameplay purposes.

Tartakovsky himself is impressed with the game and happy that it fits within the realm that he had created. Apparently, a couple of those comic books went a little more off the rails than he would have liked. But the animation met the creator’s high standards and, he was amazed by their achievement of recreating certain settings for a 3D space.

The remainder of the virtual panel was open for fan Q&A through the Twitch livestream. Fan’s peppered Tartakovsky with questions about his impressive run through animation. Going back to Dexter’s Laboratory, through the Star Wars years, and to his current series Primal. Unfortunately, as always, he remained close-to-the-chest on spoilers and what to expect in the second half of the first season of the new hit animated series.

Regardless, the new Samurai Jack game is excitement enough for one panel. Fans won’t have to wait long with Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time set to be released next month. And, the final five episodes of Primal season one should be hitting Adult Swim soon after that.