Adult Swim Con: Rick and Morty Q&A and First-Look at Season 5

Remember that terribly extended lull between season 3 and 4 of Rick and Morty where we didn’t hear any news about the future of the series for a painfully long time?

Well, it seems as if those days are behind us. The powerhouse talents behind the show have not dropped a beat after wrapping up season four in June.

Thankfully, that means that they have had much more to share during the last couple of San Diego Comic Con’s. Unfortunately, a global pandemic assured that this year there would be no way to share their news at a convention floor full of Pickle Rick cosplayers.

Adult Swim decided to adapt in these unprecedented times by hosting their own virtual ‘con’ to showcase all of their in-house talent.  Adult Swim Con has been running perpendicular to SDCC’s Comic-Con@Home with events and panels all weekend.  

How Do They Do It: Rick and Morty was a live commentary event hosted on Twitch on Friday evening. 

The panel included show creator Dan Harmon as well as cast members Chris Parnell (Jerry), Spencer Grammer (Summer), and Sarah Chalke (Beth).  

The synopsis of the event promised, “the secret ingredients and intricacies that went into building the most complex show in the multiverse.” And delivered some profound insight to the behind-the-scenes of Rick and Morty.

Of course, that is all just a fancy way to describe any convention panel. The truth is Dan Harmon is so insightful on the development of stories and humour, especially his own, that it is a treat to see him share a discussion with nearly anybody.

And Harmon didn’t disappoint during the hour-long panel. He opened up about the long-running development of the individual characters. He also shared goals for ongoing relationship plots including his intention to bring Rick and Jerry closer as friends (He even makes us show-reviewers feel bad for not catching onto the clues earlier.). With the season four finale, ”Star Mort Rickturn of the Jerri”, still fresh in our minds, Clone Beth and how she affects the family was also a hot topic for the prolific writer.

Harmon also didn’t fail to share that Clone Beth would be reappearing and bringing the “fireworks”. 

However, fans will have to wait, as he claims the events won’t transpire until season six. The good news here being that season six is already in the virtual writer’s room. Harmon admits that they are nearly done with 2022’s storylines when he realized he failed to write in a spot for Matthew Broderick’s unnamed cat character.

Sorry fans, the talking cat will not be returning anytime soon. Unfortunately, neither will The Vindicators or Morty’s Mindblowers.

Again, there is good news to this information. The writers have nearly pumped out twenty new episodes which are full of unexplored adventures that they no longer had space for all the reoccurring themes and characters. 

The creative ideas are still bursting at the seams in the Rick and Morty bullpen.

It is clear every time that we see the cast members of the show that they are big fans of the show. 

Sarah Chalke was proudly wearing a Pickle Rick button-up. And they all shared about their favourite moments for their individual characters, and of the series. You have to love how much the show always gets Spencer Grammer cracking up.

Fans can take comfort that the cast is well into recording at home and Covid-19 has not slowed down production for Rick and Morty. In fact, the series came prepared for Comic-Con weekend with the first exclusive look at season five.

The storyboard clip is a cold open for an upcoming episode. It features Morty being a badass hero and landing a date with Jessica. The segment does not end so swell for Rick as he runs into his nemesis, a sea king named Mr. Nimbus.

The remainder of the panel opened up for a fan Q@A over the Twitch livestream. This was where Harmon mostly crushed dreams of fans hoping to see their favourite characters return. The highlight was when prompted on his dream crossover, Harmon admitted that he wished BoJack Horseman would have reached out. But, Nick Kroll of Big Mouth may have subtlety dropped a hint.

Besides all of the massive Rick and Morty news, the panel was sprinkled with Harmon remembering his Emmy Award and taking cracks at Family Guy.

It was a good time had by all. Even the commenters spamming the chatroom and trolling the moderator.

Season four of Rick and Morty is available to watch on Adult Swim.