A Star Wars Legend Is Bringing Back An Iconic, R-Rated Fantasy Hero

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 1 hour ago

If you like cartoons, it’s been one heck of a week. That’s because we keep getting one awesome announcement after another from the Annecy Animation Film Festival. For example, we’ll be getting multiple direct-to-video films adapting Batman’s famous Knightfall storyline, and we’ll be getting even more of the Caped Crusader when Dynamic Duo hits the big screen in a couple of years. Additionally, the Powerpuff Girls will get a new movie, effectively introducing these pint-sized superheroes to a new generation. The original Craig McCracken show was a staple of late-90’s Cartoon Network. That show’s secret weapon was Dexter’s Laboratory creator Genndy Tartakovsky, the writer/producer/director who gave the girls their signature style.

Tartakovsky went on to direct the Powerpuff Girls movie and created iconic shows, like the 2D Clone Wars cartoon and Samurai Jack, which focused on a time-displaced warrior and his struggles to get back home. More recently, Tartakovsky created Primal, about a neanderthal and his loyal T. rex. To put it mildly, Primal was the animator’s greatest work yet, and everyone wondered what he’d be doing next. At Annecy, Tartakovsky gave the surprising answer: he’s working on a Conan the Barbarian animated series for Cartoon Network and Prime Video.

A Barbarian Cometh

Conan the Barbarian began way back in 1932 as a series of literary works from the late, great Robert E. Howard. While this unconventional hero has always been popular with fantasy fans, he didn’t really become a household name until the release of the 1982 film Conan the Barbarian. This film was Arnold Schwarzenegger’s first real breakout role, and the bodybuilder did an excellent job portraying this insanely muscled warrior. The film got one sequel, but after that, the Conan franchise was mostly sustained through comics, TV shows, and a surprisingly good MMORPG. Unfortunately, the brand has become largely dormant, and the Conan remake film with Jason Momoa was a critical and commercial failure.

Now, Samurai Jack creator Genndy Tartakovsky is working on a new Conan animated show for Cartoon Network and Prime Video. The logline for the new cartoon reads as follows: “After finding love in the pirate queen, Bêlit, a battle-hardened Conan defies gods, fate, and even death to save her from a dark sorcery that threatens to destroy everything.” This description makes it sound like the cartoon will take place when Conan is still a relatively young man, as opposed to when the character is King of Cimmeria in his later years. That’s something that we’ll see on the big screen once Schwarzenegger reprises his role for the long-awaited King Conan movie.

Return Of The King

That movie doesn’t have a release date yet, and neither does Tartakovsky’s Conan the Barbarian cartoon. At Annecy, the filmmaker confirmed (via pre-recorded video) that the series had just started development and that he was hopeful that he’d have some animatics to show off next year. In that same video, the animation legend discussed how he always felt a connection to Conan creator Robert E. Howard. That will be no surprise to anyone who has watched Primal, Tarakovsky’s Emmy-winning show that just happens to feature a beefy, Conan-style barbarian fighting his way through a similar world of monsters and magic.

Another way we can tell how passionate Genndy Tartakovsky is about this upcoming project is that this is the first time he has worked with someone else’s IP since he worked on the 2D Clone Wars cartoon. That show gave everyone a taste of just how over-the-top his onscreen battles could get, and as Primal proves, he’s only gotten better over time. Will this iconic animator be able to breathe life back into Conan the Barbarian, the world’s greatest fantasy hero? With Tartakovsky’s track record, I certainly wouldn’t bet against him!