Animation characters, at an interpretive level, are built from voices. Those who do the acting work in the original version lay the foundations for the dubbed versions. In Rick and Morty, centered on the thuggish adventures of a mad scientist and his willful grandson, the job belonged to Justin Roiland, creator of the series with Dan Harmon (Community). But, when the series returns with its seventh season on October 16, viewers may notice (or not) a change: Roiland is no longer Rick or Morty and, at the moment, it is unknown who is responsible for replace it.
The promotion of the new episodes has been based on this mystery. First, a question had to be resolved: could AdultSwim, the channel that produces the series, find actors capable of approaching the characters in the same way? The promotional videos published so far suggest that yes, the mission has been accomplished.
And who is behind Rick and Morty, these characters loosely inspired by Doc Brown and Marty McFly from Back to the Future? It is unknown. The names will not be announced until the day of the premiere. It is only known that, instead of hiring a single actor to play both characters, from now on they will have two different professionals.
In this way, the Adult Swim channel and the HBO Max content platform that broadcasts the series in the international market have turned what was a scandal just a few months ago into a mystery and a promotional game. And Roiland was fired in January after both his legal problems for domestic violence and a reputation for sexually harassing and verbally attacking minors on social networks were revealed in the media.
In court, Roiland had been reported in 2020 by a woman with whom he had dated and who accused him of a serious crime of domestic assault with bodily injury and another for false imprisonment due to threat, violence or fraud. In March 2023, two months after he was fired, the case was dismissed due to the Orange County prosecutor’s inability to provide sufficient evidence to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
“I always knew that these accusations were false, and I never had any doubt that this day would come,” Roiland said in a statement, in which he expressed that he was “deeply hurt by the horrible lies” that were told about him during the judicial process. . “Above all, I am disappointed that so many people judged so quickly without knowing the facts, based solely on the word of a bitter ex who was trying (…) to get me canceled,” he defended himself after the fact.
Roiland’s problem, however, was that more voices were raised against him on social networks, explaining personal anecdotes related to the screenwriter and actors and uploading screenshots of their conversations. For example, he proposed to a 16-year-old minor that she should “run away from home and be a sex slave, a slutty, stupid, queer whore” or he lamented why that girl was “such a bait to go to jail” and that she should “make her an adult, you stupid bitch.”
Luckily, Adult Swim has managed to emancipate its production from the questionable reputation of one of its creators and maintain its goal of reaching at least the tenth season, for which the series was renewed in its last renewal agreement.
“Thanks to the talent of the entire team of the protagonist, we can all enjoy 10 new episodes that once again raise the bar for comedy and animation. “This season shows that the geniuses working on Rick and Morty have only just begun,” defended Michael Ouweleen, president of the channel.
And who are the voices of Rick and Morty that replace the characteristic interpretation of Roiland, its creator? Next week we will clear up doubts.
