Rick and Morty went through a major change in season 7. It was the first season of the animated series to not feature the involvement of Justin Roiland after Adult Swim “ended its association” with the co-creator and voice of Rick and Morty over domestic violence charges (those charges have since been dismissed). Rick and Morty were recast with soundalikes Ian Cardoni and Harry Belden, and even with all the behind-the-scenes turmoil, the Emmy-nominated show worked just fine — especially the spaghetti episode written by Get Played co-host Heather Anne Campbell — without Roiland.
What’s in store for season 8? Let’s find out.
Here’s everything we know about the next season of Rick and Morty, including plot details and whether there’s a release date.
Plot
Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon and showrunner Scott Marder want season 8 to have the same “flow” and “vibe” as the past two seasons, with an equal number of standalone and lore-building episodes.
“There’s obviously been a lot of shakeups and transitions that have happened that are luckily coinciding with some of these canonical storylines being resolved,” Harmon (who is also busy working on the long-anticipated Community movie) told Variety. “If I could set a framework for fans of the show, it’s the old characters and all these things, but it’s like, this is an opportunity for a rebirth. I mean, the kind of canonical things like searching for Rick Prime, these are things that come out of the ether, and then they acquire this gravity, and then they become a canonical serialized story.”
Marder is aiming for “a cool balance of silly and one-up canonical stuff. That’s the stuff I want as a fan. And that’s the stuff that Harmon and I work on all jammed together. I’m really proud of these last couple of seasons; they’re sort of the perfect blend of what I look for as a fan.” He also confirmed that Evil Morty, last season in season 7, episode 5 “Unmortricken,” will be back. “We can expect to see him in the future. We certainly have plans and grand designs with him, for sure,” Marder teased.
As for Cardoni and Belden, they settled in nicely as the new voices of Rick and Morty, and they’re excited to see what’s ahead. “The only thing I’d say is there are some pretty exciting places where the story will be taking us,” Cardoni shared to The Hollywood Reporter. “There are some excellent adventures that I think the fans will really enjoy, and new twists and turns.”
Cast
All the voice cast regulars will be back, including Ian Cardoni as Rick, Harry Belden as Morty, Chris Parnell as Jerry, Sarah Chalke as Beth, and Spencer Grammer as Summer. No guest stars have been revealed yet, but it’s probably safe to assume Elon Musk, I mean, Elon “Tusk” won’t be back.
Release Date
A new episode of Rick and Morty has aired on Adult Swim every year since 2019, but that streak has come to an end. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Rick and Morty season 8 won’t premiere until 2025, meaning 2024 will be a Mr. Poopybutthole-free year (minus the anime).
Trailer
There’s no trailer for season 8 of the main season, but you can check out the trailer for Rick and Morty: The Anime.
