Primal Creator Discusses Sam Raimi’s Influence

Adult Swim’s Primal won big at the 2021 Emmy Awards, winning “Best Animated Series,” with creator Genndy Tartakovsky already working on the second season of the brutal series that follows the prehistoric warrior Spear and his trusty dinosaur companion, Fang. In a recent interview with SyFy, Tartakovsky went into detail about the work that was currently being put into the upcoming season and explained how the work of the prolific director Sam Raimi came into play during one spooky episode of the first season, “The Night Feeder,” which saw our heroes battling against an invisible foe in a fight for their lives.

Throughout the first season, Primal certainly wasn’t scared when it came to showing off plenty of blood and gore along with some heart-wrenching moments along the way. With both Spear and Fang forming a relationship based on the loss of their respective families, the world only became more brutal with the pair of unlikely allies running into terrifying creatures. With the last episode ending on a cliffhanger with Spear encountering a strange new human named Mira, Adult Swim fans have been waiting on news when it comes to the arrival of the second season of the bloody tale.

Speaking with SyFy, Genndy had this to say with regards to the creator of Evil Dead’s influence on the ninth episode of season one:

“Yeah, it was about that old theory of “if you don’t see it, it’s scarier” which is back from the ’50s. Army of the Dead and Evil Dead, yes, I’m a big Sam Raimi fan so that’s an inspiration. It’s like the same story, but it broke the mold a little bit because we’re doing it from a different point of view, and trusting sound to do a lot of it.”

While Primal might not be as popular as Rick And Morty, the number one original series on Cartoon Network’s programming block, it’s clear that the prehistoric story by the creator of Samurai Jack has resonated with viewers and it’s no small feat that it was able to take home the award for best animated series. 

Are you hyped for the return of Primal with its upcoming second season? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of Adult Swim.