INQUISITR.COM / Entertainment

When Does ‘Rick And Morty’ Season 3 Start? Fans Still Waiting For New Episodes

By Robert Bellach
Published on: 11:02 PST, Nov 17, 2016

Fans are still eagerly waiting for new episodes of Rick and Morty, which has been gearing up for a Season 3 premiere. Here is everything we’ve been able to learn so far.

Erica Rosbe, a writer on the show, was a guest on a podcast at the end of September and hinted the show would be finalized within a few weeks, leading along already existing speculation that the show would be ready by December, 2016, if not sooner.

Rosbe quickly noted on Twitter that things had been overblown by Rick and Morty fans hoping for positive news, and emphasized no official air date was ready yet.

The most hardcore followers of news on the popular Adult Swim sci-fi/comedy series will have noted that at the most recent comic convention panels, (annoyingly) little info was revealed on the new season.

San Diego Comic-Con this spring had the most info, with a rough clip revealing a unique situation Rick would encounter in Season 3 — he had literally been turned into a pickle, and had to live without arms or legs. The clip shows Rick using scavenged bug legs as limbs, along with his wits, to brutally defeat a pack of rats.

At the start of October, during the New York Comic Con, the main piece of news about the show was a VR game inspired by the series.

A fan experiences the “Rick and Morty” Virtual Reality Booth at New York Comic Con on October 8, 2016 in New York City. [Image by Paul Zimmerman/Getty Images for Turner]

At the Los Angeles Comic Con at the end of that month, the focus of the discussion was on popular moments in Season 2, and the overall philosophy behind the show’s writing. Some teases about Season 3 were made, but were limited overall in specifics.

Writer Conner Schwerdtfeger, in CinemaBlend, suggests that the highly-detailed animation process may account for some of the delays in the production of Rick and Morty. He notes that co-creator Dan Harmon has praised the production team, and noted their extreme attention to every last detail.

“Dan Harmon has been incredibly vocal over the course of the last few months about the fact that the entire team of animators who work on Rick and Morty take their jobs incredibly seriously. The show has earned a stellar reputation among fans for its high quality production value, so a perfectionist attitude is definitely appreciated.

“The animation process for Rick and Morty is made even more difficult due to the fact that the show uses a rather unorthodox method. Although the episodes are very thoroughly written, Rick and Morty uses a process known as ‘retroscripting,’ in which the animators work around primarily ad-libbed dialogue. This is one of the major reasons why voice actor Justin Roiland mumbles and stutters so much when he does Rick’s voice. It makes for great comedy, but it’s hell on the show’s animators.

“As of now there is still no confirmed premiere date for the new season, but we are still hoping it be ready to debut before the end of the year.”

Rick and Morty tweets hint at Season 3 delays?

It is still uncertain as to any exact date of release for Rick and Morty Season 3, as no official announcement has been made yet. Mike McMahan, a writer on the show, tweeted last week “that’s a wrap for me,” implying that he had finished writing on the show. However, like Schwerdtfeger hinted, the animation could still likely be in its very early stages and far from completion.

McMahan sent out a follow-up tweet earlier this week, gently teasing all his followers who were begging him to “hurry up with Season 3!”

Schwerdtfeger’s hope that Rick and Morty Season 3 will “be ready to debut before the end of the year” is unfortunately unlikely to happen, especially now that we are more than halfway into November. Zen Monkey Studios, one of the official merchandise partners of Rick and Morty, tweeted a meme image macro parodying rumors that the show will be available that quickly. Although they may not have specific knowledge, their official relationship with the series gives them some degree of credibility.

For fans who may have to wait until 2017 to get their fix of new episodes, Zen Monkey Studios is ready to keep them warm this winter. Earlier today, they also sent out a tweet promoting a new Rick and Morty sweatshirt with a wintry, holiday-friendly design.

For fans feeling in a seasonally charitable mood (and still want Rick and Morty swag), the official Rick and Morty Twitter account tweeted that shirts designed by co-creator Justin Roiland are available for sale. The money from the shirts will go to support Los Angeles-area animal shelters. The shirts are available for a limited time, over the next two weeks.

So, although no official word has been released as of this writing, it looks like Rick and Morty Season 3 will be available before spring, 2017, depending on the speed of the voice recording and animation production. Fans will need to just hang on a little longer.

[Featured Image by Adult Swim]

Share this article: When Does ‘Rick And Morty’ Season 3 Start? Fans Still Waiting For New Episodes
adult swim Rick and Morty
More from Inquisitr