Justin Roiland was let go from Rick and Morty as felony charges against the voice actor and co-creator became public earlier this year. Rick and Morty will go on, but Adult Swim will no longer associate itself with Roiland. He was charged with one count of domestic battery with corporal injury and one count of false imprisonment by menace, violence, fraud, or deceit in Orange County. The incident occurred in 2020 with an unnamed Jane Doe that Roiland was dating. He pleaded not guilty and was released from his charges in March 2023, but by then, the damage was done.
Adult Swim had cut ties with Roiland, as had networks such as Hulu, which produces Roiland’s animated sci-fi series Solar Opposites. As a result of Roiland no longer being in the picture, Rick and Morty underwent quite a few changes, especially given that Roiland voiced both Rick Sanchez and Morty Smith, as well as every iteration of their characters throughout the multiverse.
Adult Swim took steps to recast voice actors for both characters while co-creator Dan Harmon remained the sole showrunner. Rick and Morty will continue to stay in capable hands as the show has added many more creatives to its staff over the years.
Updated September 29, 2023: This article has been updated by Jessica Peerez with more recent developments about the highly-anticipated season 7 of Rick and Morty.
Rick and Morty Goes On
Rick and Morty will remain on the air despite the massive changes. The show is Adult Swim’s most popular title and one of the most famous animated shows on television. Rick and Morty is in the middle of fulfilling a huge 70-episode order and has been locked in through Season 10. However, given Roiland’s exit, with him having voiced both titular characters, as well as a few supporting roles, the seventh season was one with challenges for the creative team behind Rick and Morty. Many animated shows in the past have struggled to find a proper match in recasting voice actors.
In fact, Adult Swim themselves have previously struggled with the issue. Some older millennials will remember the late-night Hanna-Barbera parody Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law. The show didn’t lose its title character, but another character (Phil Ken Sebben) had to be replaced when voice actor Stephen Colbert left to star in his own show, The Colbert Report. The next season, the character was voiced by someone different, and the show promptly failed, getting canceled by the end of that season. Many fans thought Colbert’s character had been the comedic heart of the show.
Replacing Justin Roiland
Replacing Justin Roiland by whatever means was a given for Rick and Morty. The decision includes recasting both Rick and Morty and changes to their process in the writer’s room. Roiland helped run the show and also contributed to some of the show’s more improvisational moments. You can see his style of comedy most clearly in his show Solar Opposites.
But a greater portion of Rick and Morty has been written by staff writers than it has by its creators in recent years. Even the “Pickle Rick” episode was famously written by guest writer Jessica Gao, who later went on to be the creator of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Any change in tone Rick and Morty experiences will be a pivot that needs to come to the show eventually. The crew will just have to focus their skill on preserving the spirit of the show and separating it from any of Roiland’s ill will.
The show’s “new age” writers are more than capable of whipping a new Rick and Morty into shape. Rob Schrab is an old friend and collaborator of Dan Harmon’s who has recently been brought on as a writer. Anne Lane helped write and produce Tuca & Bertie. Nick Rutherford, aside from working on several other Adult Swim shows, has written for Saturday Night Live and Axe Cop. Scott Marder has written for both BoJack Horseman and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Siobhan Thompson regularly improvises comedy and narrative on Dimension 20.
To put it simply, there is more than enough talent in that writer’s room to not only keep the soul of the show intact but to write their way around this big change.
Rick and Morty: A Perfect Replacement
Despite the challenges that came with letting go of Roiland, looks like Rick and Morty has struck the jackpot in finding voices for its leading characters. Thanks to the newly released trailer for the series, released on both Adult Swim and Cartoon Network on September 25, 2023, viewers get their first experience of the new voices.
It probably came as a huge relief to viewers that the voices aren’t jarringly different from when Roiland voiced the characters. In fact, if one is not aware that there has been a change in the actors, the difference in voices is not too distinguishable. However, fans of the show, who pay keen attention to minute details, will be able to pick out differences in regard to tone, pitch, and style. Rick and Morty season seven will now have two separate actors voicing the characters, unlike in the six previous seasons where Roiland voiced both Rick and Morty.
Preserving the viewing experience had always been a big consideration for Adult Swim, even in their quest to find replacement voice actors. “We want the show to speak for itself,” said a spokesperson from Adult Swim, talking to The Hollywood Reporter. “We believe in the strength of the season and our new voices, and we want to preserve the viewing experience for fans.” Speaking at the San Diego Comic-Con in July this year, executive producer Steve Levy assured viewers that it would be only soundalikes and that there wouldn’t be any changes to the characters or their personalities. From what can be seen in the trailer, Levy appears to have kept his word.
In a somewhat surprising move, Adult Swim has decided not to reveal the names of the voice actors giving life to the titular characters as yet. The names will only be released when the latest season of the series makes its debut. Rick and Morty will be back on screens with its seventh season on October 15, 2023.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
