2024 technically wasn’t a Rick and Morty-free year. An anime spinoff of the Adult Swim hit, the simply titled Rick and Morty: The Anime, aired for 10 episodes over the summer and fall. But it’s been over a year since the season 7 finale of the original series, which involved the “single scariest place in the galaxy” (a “Fear Hole” in a Denny’s). Will season 8 be coming soon?
Here’s everything we know about Rick and Morty season 8, including plot details, a release date, and whether there’s a trailer yet.
Plot
Now that the Rick Prime arc is complete, Rick and Morty can get back to what it does best: classic Rick and Morty adventures.
“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,” co-creator Dan Harmon 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.” He added, “I will always target the episodic personally. Because, like, your job is to fight gravity. And gravity is serialization. That’s what happens organically; gravity is a great thing. But you’re supposed to want to fly.”
Showrunner Scott Marder put it more directly: “Eight will have a lot of similar flow and vibes to six and seven, which is like 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.”
The standalone vs. serialized consideration came up during the Rick and Morty panel at New York Comic-Con 2024.
“Definitely trying to look at the season from 20,000 feet… and making sure we’re hitting each character across the season and that they’re all getting a focus and making sure we’re hitting a little bit of canon, a little bit of silliness, little bit of Rick and Morty classic stuff.”
And a little bit (or possibly a lot) of Evil Morty.
Marder also predicts a more “positive” future for Rick. “The choices he makes towards the end are indicative of what we’re looking to do with the writing,” he told Collider. “He’s got to keep moving forward. He’s already made choices that weren’t just to continue chasing her down the spiral. So, as tempting as it was and as incredible as all that seems, he’s with his found family now that he’s chosen, and he’s got to keep moving in a positive direction.”
There’s plenty of time: Rick and Morty is renewed through season 12.
Cast
All the voice cast regulars will be back in season 8, including Ian Cardoni as Rick, Harry Belden as Morty, Chris Parnell as Jerry, Sarah Chalke as Beth, and Spencer Grammer as Summer. The guest stars are currently “to be announced.” Maybe there will be a crossover episode with Smiling Friends?
Release Date
For now, all we know is that Rick and Morty season 8 will premiere in 2025. No specific date has been announced yet, though.
Trailer
The latest teaser for season 8 skewers the voice cast replacements that occurred ahead of season 7. Jerry had better watch out.
