Samurai Jack Movie Idea

The bar was a simple establishment with soft sleepy music and only a moderate stench. It was a buzz with the murmur of patrons, humans and aliens alike. Most were simple fishermen, but all knew better than to cross the invisible line where the seedier lot assembled. Bounty hunters mostly, with scars, mismatched armor, and weapons on display to make themselves look intimidating. A bartender lazily washed a glass as he regarded them. He could tell that even the fishermen weren’t buying the act. True that it wasn’t so long ago when even the word “bounty hunter” would strike fear in the hearts of most, but those days were gone now, along with all the biggest baddest bruisers who had given the name such weight.

A man pushed the door open. He wore a white robe which most would mistake for a gown. Though the robe was loose around his body, the bartender figured he had a fairly small build. By his side he held a simple and small sword; not terribly eye-catching as it was only common sense to carry some manner of protection when venturing out of the settlements. At least, that’s what the bartender figured after determining that the man was a stranger. A straw hat covered most of his features, which the bartender determined were of Asian descent with a few aged lines.

The stranger turned few heads as he maneuvered around the tables and came straight for the bar, sitting precariously close to the invisible line separating the bounty hunters from the decent folk.

“What’ll it be?” The bartender asked impassively. “Rum? Whisky? We just got this new shipment of creshidishor,” he indicated to the bottles on display.

“Hot water,” the stranger said simply.

While confused at first, the bartender merely shrugged and poured the stranger some tap. He went back to his washing, but watched out of the corner of his eye as the stranger took out a bag of what looked like tea leaves and stirred them into his glass. “You uh… looking for something?” He asked after a moment’s pause.

The stranger took a long sip of his tea before answering. “I’m looking to charter a boat,” he said softly. “I don’t have much money, but I’m willing to work.”

The bartender smiled flatly. “The docks are usually shorthanded this time of year. If you’ve got the muscle, you could probably find something.”

“Thank you,” the stranger said before taking another sip.

Meanwhile, in the dimly lit part of the bar, a trio of lizard-looking bounty hunters had been staring at the man for some time.

“That him?” The orange hunter asked.

The green hunter held up an electronic pad, studying it intently. “Think so,” he confirmed with a nod. “Twelve googolplex. It went up again.” He smiled his approval. “What’s the plan, boss?”

The red hunter smiled wickedly as he stared at the stranger. “Who needs a plan?” he snickered. “Just look at him. I bet we could take him here and now before he even had a chance to blink.”

The others nodded their agreement and stood as one. They approached from the side, earning stares of worry from all around the bar as everyone sensed trouble. Even the bartender had backed away towards the phone. The stranger didn’t even look their way, which they took as a sign that he was as clueless as they’d hoped. They didn’t see the way he tensed, reading himself to fight and kill them like he’d done countless hunters before. Leading the way, the boss had just crossed the invisible line and reached out to grab their quarry when a metallic hand shot out to block his way.

It was a hooded alien who spoke with an aquatically garbled voice. “Don’t.”

“Heh?” the boss questioned with a challenging posture. “What you say ta me?”

“Sixteen years,” the hooded alien said with an oddly mournful tone. “For sixteen years this samurai has walked the earth with a bounty unlike any other. Did you ever bother to wonder why that is?”

The hunters’ betrayed their ignorance with stares of confusion.

“It’s because he’s strong,” the hooded alien said firmly. “Countless hunters, unimaginable horrors, and even the great Aku. He’s faced them all and still he walks.” The alien turned to face the hunters, only his eyes shining beneath his hood. “The best have already fallen. What makes you think you can do better?”

The hunters finally seemed to catch on and looked at the stranger with newfound fear.

“Go,” the hooded alien waved at the door. “Seek prey you can handle, and live another day.”

The hunters, now visibly sweating, said their thanks and tried not to hurry too quickly out the door.

The stranger named Jack paid for his drink and turned to face the hooded alien. “Thank you for that. I did not want to cause any trouble for-”

“Your thanks are unnecessary, he-uuuman!” the hooded alien growled and removed his hood.

Jack froze, recognizing the familiar alien. He had green scaly skin, a long neck, and tiny hairs upon his lip that resembled a mustache. But it was the eyes that were the most familiar. Those were the eyes of the very being Jack had first fought when he was hurtled from the portal so long ago.

“Sixteen years,” the alien said with an accusing glare as he held up his left arm, showing off the previously hidden stump. “Sixteen years, and what have you managed to do?”

Recovering from his surprise, Jack steeled his expression. “I am sorry for how our last encounter transpired, but-”

“But nothing, he-uuuman,” the alien snarled. “Ever since that day, all you’ve done is cause trouble for this planet and everyone on it.”

“I respectfully disagree,” Jack sighed.

The alien chuckled. “So you really think yourself a hero saving this town or that peasant, huh? Well then, samurai, why don’t you tell me what happens to the people you save after you’re done?”

Jack said nothing.

“That’s when Aku comes in to wreck things up all over again. Where ever you go, Aku’s drones follow, ready to instill terror in all those stupid enough to take inspiration from your petty deeds.”

Jack raised an eyebrow in curiosity. This was certainly news to his ears, as he had always been under the impression that his efforts to save lives and fight Aku had disrupted the wizard’s stranglehold on this world.

A scene-transition later and Jack is seen walking out of the town, his head hung low. This is a chance to show off the scenery and atmosphere-building sound effects the show was most known for as he travels. Jack then visits a town he saved, which we learn through flashbacks. However, where Jack remembered villagers waving goodbye as they rebuild their homes, he finds only desolation. The audience can see how hard this is on our samurai as he ventures to other villages, only to find more of the same.

Jack asks himself if the alien was right, if he really has been doing more harm than good. Naturally, this is the point when Aku’s drones show up and we get our first fight. However, flashbacks of the villages begin to cloud his mind and Jack starts taking blows. Injuries begin to accumulate and it starts to look like this is the end. That’s when our favorite Scotsman shows up. “Remember me!?”

Invigorated by the sight of his old friend, Jack gets his second wind and the pair fights on. However, this particular army seems near endless and it looks like the two will be overwhelmed. Thankfully, the Scotsman declares “Ah, sod it!” and slaps Jack with a teleporter.

The two reappear in some military facility, surrounded by guards in mismatched armor. Jack readies himself to continue the fighting, only for the guards’ eyes to widen at the sight of him and they all take a knee, bowing to the samurai. The Scotsman laughs and inform Jack he’s got a few fans before motioning him forward. As they walk, once more giving the animators a chance to show their stuff, the Scotsman explains that this is one of the bases of the rebellion.

Jack’s efforts have not gone unnoticed by the people as he spots several familiar faces among the rebels, including a few woolies and the shoemaker’s family. He even spies a few of the villagers he’d thought had been wiped out. The Scottsman informs Jack that they’ve been gathering in places like these all over the world to coordinate small scale disruptions of Aku’s war machine. That most of it has been focused on Jack for so long has been a major help.

Finally they arrive at the war room where the rebel leader introduces herself. She informs Jack that he’s been an inspiration to them all, showing them that Aku is not invincible. The days of small raids is over, she says. Now that they’ve acquired “the asset”, they’re ready to overthrow Aku once and for all, which is met by cheers from all but one.

Jack shouts them down. He says that while he admires their bravery, it is foolish to go after Aku directly. A flashback to the time he’d had dinner with the shoemaker and his family, and Jack says he refuses to let anyone get hurt on his account.

The Scotsman promptly whacks Jack upside the head, calling him daft for thinking he’s the only one with a stake in this. The rebel leader agrees, saying how they’ve all suffered under Aku’s tyranny to some degree. They might have taken inspiration from him, but all their fighting thus far has been their own. She says that this uprising has been in the making for years now, with only the missing “asset” holding them back.

Jack asks what this “asset” is and, no surprise; it’s him and his sword, the only warrior and weapon to have ever come close to beating Aku. Seeing the looks of hope and encouragement from these rebels rekindles Jack’s fire to fight and he finally agrees. The Scotsman says he’s relieved to hear that, because they’ve already started.

“Whaaaaat!?” Aku bellows in a sudden scene change. The wizard turns to a wall in his castle covered in his magic windows. His widened eyes dart from scene to scene as the audience is treated to a parade of cameos. Basically everyone Jack has ever saved is seen rising up against Aku’s forces.

Meanwhile, on an outcropping, a handful of Aku’s loyal servants cower as they watch their master’s expression. They are understandably fearful of their master going off in a rage at this turn of events.

Close up to Aku’s face as his teeth are grit in frustration. However, soon his lips close and curl into a smile. He then starts laughing, much to the confusion of his servants.

“Fear not, my loyal servants, for I have foreseen all of this,” he says with a contented grin.

“Master?” A servant asks. It’s the three-eyed girl who first informed Aku of Jack’s existence.

“I knew, with the samurai’s victories, that he would one day inspire the meek and pathetic rabble of this world to hope, a thing I had mistakenly believed had long since died. But no matter. For in a moment of weakness long ago, I discovered the means to end the samurai once and for all. All will transpire according to the designs of Lord Aku.”

“But, my lord,” the woman speaks up. “These reports are coming in all across the world. Our forces simply aren’t enough to meet them all. Besides, how can you expect to beat the samurai after all your previous failures and-” The woman’s hands shoot over her mouth as she realizes what she said, just as Aku’s eyes widen to stare down at her.

In his great towering form, Aku lowers himself to be at eyelevel with the outcropping as the other servants back up, leaving the girl to her fate. Akus stares impassively at her, his expression unreadable, until once more his lips curl into a soft smile.

“Do not fret, my faithful informant,” Aku says, much to the woman’s surprise. “No doubt you spoke only in concern for your master’s well-being, aye?”

She nods frantically.

“In fact, your concern is so moving,” Aku’s hand suddenly appears behind her and snatches her up, lifting her close to his face, “I think I’ll give you a demonstration to put your fears to rest.”

“Oh, not at all, master,” she pleads. “You don’t have to-”

“I dis-agree,” Aku says slowly, narrowing his eyes on his prisoner.

Aku opens his palm and the woman is left floating in midair for a moment. He then points up and the woman is shot up into the dark depths of his castle. The woman starts to scream blooding murder as the other servants watch on in petrified horror, until the screaming suddenly stops. The audience is shown a small black shape descending from the top of the castle down to the outcropping. The servants back away, looking more frightened than before as the audience is only able to make a black hand clenching in a fist. Aku starts laughing, his voice echoing throughout the castle.

This next part is the hardest for me to think up, as I’ve never been able to write fight choreography. However, this next scene is essentially one long fight. Jack, the Scotsman, and the rebel leader all lead the main charge while we occasionally cut to more cameos. Even the mobsters, after seeing an Aku bot looming over a family, look to their boss, who assumes a determined face and turns the Jewel of Neptune onto the bots.

In the following break, the audience and characters are given a breather as they celebrate the day’s victories. Aku’s robots and other forces have been nearly wiped out and all are confident that the wizard himself is soon to be next. Jack isn’t so sure, but is still appreciative of all the smiling faces. He lets slip that he’s looking forward to returning to the past to stop Aku’s evil before it can truly begin, which causes the celebrating to stop.

The rebel leader stands before Jack, looking especially serious, and tells him that she will not allow this. Jack asks why and she responds that changing the past will change the present of everyone here. She offers the example that her parents met in a refugee camp, meaning without Aku she might not have been born. As bad as the world is, she and the rebels will make it better. However, without Aku in the past, the rebels of today might never have existed. Aku’s tyranny, she says, is not a thing to be changed, but overcome in the future.

Jack is given little time to think on this as the counter attack begins. Reports come in that Aku’s castle has been popping up all over the place, staying for only a few minutes before vanishing again. Further, in its wake he’s been leaving behind a new model of armored soldier that’s been tearing the rebels to shreds, literally.

Just then, Aku’s castle pops up in a city near where the rebels have made camp. Quickly they mobilize and prepare their attack. Strangely, even though it takes half an hour for them to arrive, Aku’s castle is still present off in the distance. The rebel leader says to focus first on evacuating civilians, but they find none. The city is dead quiet. More atmosphere setting scenes until the quiet is broken by the sound of marching.

These soldiers are massive things, human shaped and twice the size of a normal man. Their designs are reminiscent of Aku’s bug bots and they’re armed with a deadly variety of weapons. Jack and the Scotsman team up on one and eventually manage to cut its helmet open. To their horror, the one inside the armor is none other than Aku, himself. As they stare, mouths agape, the other soldiers stop and all remove their helmets, revealing even more Aku. The Aku army grins wickedly at Jack and the rebels.

The rebel leader asks what Aku has done with the people of this city, to which the Akus start laughing. One begins unlatching his chest plate to reveal an elderly man inside, imbedded into Aku’s dark flesh. A few more Akus do the same and we see exactly what he’s been doing with the civilians, who all cry out for someone to save them. Aku asks Jack to remember the time he became infected with Aku. Apparently this was a power Aku never knew he had and he’s been spending all his time these last few years experimenting. Now that he’s perfected the process of infecting others with his being, he plans on doing the same to the entire world. “The world will never dream of defying me again. For soon all will be as one with Aku!” The Akus declare in unison.

Fighting, fighting, and more fighting. Some of the Akus are destroyed, but more just take their place. The rebels are falling everywhere. Soon, even the Scotsman is cut down. And then, when only Jack is left standing, the Aku soldiers suddenly disappear, leaving only their armor. A blackness darts across the ground, ducking into shadows, and then expanding. After taking the people, Aku is now consuming the very land. Cut to various scenes around the world, each pulling farther and farther back as the blackness spreads, until the whole of the Earth is consumed.

In a desperate frenzy, Jack begins swinging wildly at the ground, cutting the Aku flesh. But the wizard just laughs. Jack’s sword may still be the only weapon that can harm him, but at this point its basically like giving a haircut to a giant. Aku intends to leave Jack alive with his failure, of knowing he can never be any more than a gnat to the mighty wizard. Aku has finally been restored to the amorphous blackness he was in the beginning. And slowly the Aku world reaches out to consume the moon.

And then, when everything is at its bleakest. That’s when the pantheon emerges. The three gods who had defeated Aku before, as well as other deities never featured, all appear encircling the earth. They stand there for a moment, looking cool, before descending in mass upon the Aku world. Their weapons shatter mountains and seas, purging them of the Aku flesh, but it’s never enough and Aku just regenerates. The two forces are equally matched.

In seeing the fighting around him, Jack refuses to be helpless anymore. He screams, garnering the attention of all the gods around the world, and commands them to give their power to him. They do in a grand show of lights and imbue Jack with a very cool set of armor before he plunges his sword into the Earth, purging Aku forever.

Now, the land truly is desolate. Though the world persists, all life had been wiped out. The gods descend around Jack and bow to him, honoring his heroism. Odin summons his horse, the very one Jack’s father once rode, to take Jack to the portal guarded by the Guardian. Jack enters, and we cut to later after he’s defeated Aku’s more manageable form. But the victory is hollow, for Jack still remembers his failure of the future. However, the gods grant him a vision of the days yet to come. We see all the people Jack had lost have been revived. All his friends in the future are alive and well, living out their lives in peace and happiness. Jack begins to cry, content that it is finally over.

The End