Rick and Morty fans have been waiting months for this, although for some, it feels like years. At long last, early footage of the upcoming Season 3 has surfaced. Here’s what we know so far.
First, a brief overview of the history of this teaser clip, which has been bubbling under for a little while now. Footage first leaked as part of the December 15 episode of Development Meeting , an Adult Swim streaming web series that takes a look behind the scenes of some of the ideas brewing at the network. They showed an “animatic” clip, showing temporary animation to be finished later in the production process. The main video clip was excerpted from the larger episode and posted online by fans. This was later covered by the Inquisitr and Birth Movies Death . The fan clip was taken down and has since been replaced by a clip posted on the official Adult Swim YouTube channel.
In the actual clip, Rick grabs Morty out of school for a supposedly “quick adventure,” but viewers are then treated to a title card reading “six days later.” After surviving an extremely dangerous space battle, both Rick and Morty break down crying from the sheer stress of the situation.
Rick admits he was not in control of the situation and suggests that they should unwind and try a vacation. Of course, one can only wonder what Rick’s idea of a vacation is.
As Birth Movies Death writer Evan Saathoff jokingly warns, “Uh, these curse words are not bleeped yet, so mildly NSFW.”
Be aware! Here is the video.
Saathoff notes there isn’t a whole lot of footage and was annoyed by the presence of the Development Meeting hosts commenting on the video, but he is pleased regardless. Seeing Rick free from jail makes him wonder about the larger context of the clip.
“…this footage is barely animated and lacks sound effects (not to mention the inclusion of some Star Wars music that probably won’t survive a final edit)… It’s only three minutes, but I still love it! Because I love pretty much all Rick and Morty. If nothing else, this tells us that season two’s aftermath (the last episode ended with Rick being put in space jail forever) won’t be that severe. Or maybe it will be. Who knows with this show?”
As previous Inquisitr coverage indicates, it looks like Rick has managed to escape the prison he was in at the end of the second season. The video appears to list itself as Episode 6 of the third season in the production code as seen in the upper left-hand corner of the clip.
So, there may yet be closure given to fans as to how Rick managed to break out, which may be discovered in earlier (as-yet-unseen) Season 3 episodes.
San Diego Comic-Con this spring had another rough clip (with similar unfinished animation) revealing yet another unique and bizarre situation Rick would encounter in Season 3. In this upcoming episode, Rick and been shrunk down and had literally been turned into a pickle, now living without arms or legs. The clip shows Rick improvising scavenged insect legs into limbs, using those, along with quick intuition, to viciously defeat a threatening pack of rats. Since being posted, it has gained over 2 million views. Another warning — the violence here may be a bit graphic for some viewers.
Here is that clip.
Fans Hope Season 3 Will Resolve Cliffhanger Ending
As noted above, the second season of Rick and Morty ended on a cliffhanger with potentially huge implications for the future of the show’s characters. Hunted down by the Galactic Federation for a history of rebellion, Rick turns himself into the authorities so his family would not have to live like fugitives. It was an ending outside the often cynical tone of the show and left the storyline totally unresolved at the end of the episode. It has left many fans waiting anxiously for the third season, with one of the last images of season two being Rick, defeated and helpless, stuck in a maximum-security prison somewhere in space.
Staff writer Ryan Ridley defended the drama of the Season 2 ending back in July at a Rick and Morty panel at the San Diego Comic-Con . He felt it was an earned outcome for Rick’s prior reckless actions.
“I think that in Season 2, it became clear that Rick needed to suffer some consequences for his actions and behavior. I remember thinking, ‘It would be cool to see it.’ We’ve teased this idea of this [Galactic] Federation, and we’ve known Rick has hated the government since Season 1. What would it be like if he actually had to pay the price for all his ‘hatred of the government.’ It was kinda nice to see this character who has had all the power in the multiverse — sitting in this prison cell… It’s a good way to end a season after all that.”
Months later, at October 2016’s New York Comic Con, fans could pose for photos in a life-scale recreation of the sci-fi prison cell, alongside Rick himself. Clearly, Rick and Morty was not above using the angst from the Season 2 finale for humor.
Later that month, at a panel for Stan Lee’s “Comikaze Los Angeles Comic Con 2016,” series co-creator Justin Roiland kept up the gentle teasing, asking the audience about how it might end – and that he wouldn’t give anything away.
“How is Rick gonna get out of that pickle? You guys probably have a bunch of fan theories about how that’s gonna go down.”
Although no official word seems to have been released as of this writing, it looks like Rick and Morty Season 3 should be available by spring or early summer 2017, depending on the speed of the final voice recordings and animation production. Show creators have previously emphasized that they want to take the time to get the animation details right. Fans will continue to wait regardless of release date, but all hope it comes soon.
Any fan theories on how Rick escapes from the Galactic Federation prison? What are you looking forward and hoping to see in season 3? Leave a comment below.
[Featured Image by Adult Swim]