Last Samurai Standing star explains the show’s Avengers fight scene

Last Samurai Standing is like a mix of Squid Game, Shogun, and battle royales like Call of Duty: WarZone, but producer and star Junichi Okada explained how they created the show’s big Avengers-style moment.

The new series takes place in Japan during the late 19th century when the samurai were abolished during the Meiji era. It mainly follows Shujiro Saga (Junichi Okada) who enters a brutal tournament in the hopes of winning ¥100 billion yen to save his sick wife and son during a cholera outbreak.

The tournament pits 292 fighters against each other as they travel from Kyoto to Tokyo within a month, and every time they kill another fighter, they have to take their wooden tags as proof of their victory. The game itself is called Kodoku, and is based on a historical-fiction novel called Ikusagemi by Shogo Imamura and illustrated by Katsumi Tatsuzawa.

The nature of the show gives audiences plenty of characters to root for throughout the unforgiving tournament, but one scene in particular brings a few of them together in an Avengers-style team up moment.

Last Samurai Standing scene is the show’s big Avengers-style fight

Netflix

In Last Samurai Standing Episode 4, ‘The Mastermind’, there’s an intense battle when Shujiro and his companions fall into a trap set up by a wealthy observer of the game. It quickly leads to an all-out brawl, including an ambitious one-take sequence that martial arts fans will get a kick out of.

Junichi Okada, who is also a producer and choreographer, explained the thought process behind the crossover moment.

“For the [seafood restaurant scene], there is a difference [as there were more people] and skills [on show]. We had to keep in mind how many people we introduced,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “We considered that scene like a [superhero] type of scene, a moment where just like in The Avengers you’re able to introduce everyone one by one.”

He added that they tried not to make the violence so over-the-top because they aimed to keep Last Samurai Standing “based in historical facts” instead of immediately becoming a fantasy show.

Netflix

“The violence was our way of showing how dreadful and scary that era was, but also trying not to make it a fantasy with finishing moves or killer moves for the characters, which were in the original source material.”

However, Avengers-style superpowers could be on the horizon if Last Samurai Standing continues in future seasons, because the book it’s based on “has this connection with God” during the story, Okada says.

“In the first season, we introduced the kagura dance, which is like a spiritual ritual so there is this element of the superhuman power, so we may be able to introduce this divine power.”

Last Samurai Standing is streaming on Netflix now. For more on what to watch, take a look at the new movies coming to Netflix this month, check out the best live-action anime adaptations, and everything coming up with our 2025 TV show release calendar.