For more than two decades, Quentin Tarantino has insisted that he would end his filmography with ten movies. He has said it in interviews, panels, and podcasts. And yet, every few years, something fascinating occurs: a spark of inspiration from his past work breaks through his self-imposed limitations, tugging him back toward the worlds he once created.
That spark has ignited again. As ‘The Lost Chapter: Yuki’s Revenge’ finally gets released into the world in a very unlikely drop and ‘The Whole Bloody Affair’ returns to theaters, Tarantino is once again toying with a long-held idea for his Kill Bill prequel: Bill’s origin story. And he is considering the idea of growing his universe with animation, a field he has not ventured into much.
Quentin Tarantino Wants To Tell Bill’s Origin Story
Most filmmakers end a chapter and never look back, but Tarantino is not one of them. During a special screening of ‘Yuki’s Revenge’ at his own Vista Theater, he openly acknowledged that the Kill Bill universe has a gravitational pull on him. And he has still not completely overcome it. He spoke with the kind of wistful honesty fans rarely get. “I had a whole Kill Bill idea in my mind. I like the idea of a Bill origin. A story of Bill, about how Bill became Bill and the three godfathers who made him.”
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Additionally, it is not the first time he has raised this idea, but something was different this time. In between returning to the material to make the new animated short and the renewed interest of the fans, Tarantino appeared more open and ready. The suggested prequel would trace Bill’s story and how he became the killer head of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. Some of the most intriguing characters he has ever created are the three godfathers he referred to: Esteban Vihaio, Pai Mei, and Hattori Hanzo.
Imagine seeing Bill being taught by Esteban how to be cruel, by Pai Mei how to be disciplined, and by Hanzo how to be deadly. It is a tapestry that is full of potential. However, unfortunately, the original Bill, David Carradine, died in 2009. In ‘Yuki’s Revenge’, Tarantino himself played the role, and although it is shocking to hear the director speak as Bill, it also suggests how personally attached he is to the character. Tarantino even joked that he isn’t sure he’ll “live long enough” to make this idea happen.
‘Kill Bill’s Future Could Be Animated
One of the most surprising parts of this new chapter is not the revival of unmade stories, but the format in which they’re hitting the world: animation. Not theaters, not streaming, and not a collector’s Blu-ray. Fortnite. Tarantino publishing a lost chapter of Kill Bill within a video game is almost surreal. And yet it makes perfect sense somehow. Kill Bill has always been a mash-up of styles. It was animated into its very blood and bones when O-Ren Ishii’s backstory was narrated using stylized Japanese anime in Vol. 1.
‘Yuki’s Revenge’ takes that legacy to the extreme. The short, about Gogo Yubari’s vengeful sister in pursuit of the Bride, has finally been turned into a fast-paced animated film. And as crazy as it may sound, Fortnite was its initial screening platform. Nevertheless, the theatrical experience is not forgotten. Beginning December 5, theaters will be able to see ‘The Whole Bloody Affair’ in some cinemas, with the animated short attached.
This dramatic duo presents an opportunity that is hard to come by: the opportunity to watch the Kill Bill trilogy as Tarantino originally intended it to be: longer, bloodier, more complete, and full of righteous anime insanity. What makes this more interesting is what the animated revival holds for the future. When questioned on motion-capture and animation, Tarantino freely considered the prospect of narrating stories he can no longer physically shoot.
There, the other long-debated concept re-emerged. The Vega Brothers. Two cult-favorite characters of his first two films, Vincent (John Travolta) and Vic (Michael Madsen), have been the focus of a mythical prequel that Tarantino never actually made. However, with both actors either growing old or, in the case of Madsen, dying tragically in 2025, animation is the way to go. “I could see some world between this and Japanese anime. The things I couldn’t physically do,” he stated.
Quentin Tarantino Is Not Ready To Retire Yet
Tarantino’s decision to abandon ‘The Movie Critic’ left many wondering what his final film might be. However, perhaps the more appropriate question is: Does his storytelling actually end with feature films? He has clearly become fascinated by animation’s freedom. It enables him to revive the dead, age the living, and sew together universes that no longer exist in reality. Animation allows him to break the rules, which he has been fond of since ‘Reservoir Dogs’.
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And it also provides an escape. And it also offers a loophole: if his tenth film is truly his “last,” he can still create entire worlds outside that self-imposed boundary through shorts, series, or animated films. This includes The Kill Bill prequel, The Vega Brothers movie, Lost chapters, and seeing other mythologies fans have pleaded for. Tarantino might stop making live-action films, but he does not appear to be willing to stop telling stories. And with ‘Yuki’s Revenge’ finally in the wild, fans now have more reason than ever to believe that the Kill Bill universe is not over.
