Entering the halfway point for Comic-Con @ Home 2021, Adult Swim’s original animated hit series Rick and Morty assembled an intergalactic panel of cast and crew for a half-hour conversation revolving around the newly released fifth season. The panel saw moderator, and voice of Mr. Goldenfold from the series, Brandon Johnson (Ingrid Goes West) bounce around to talk about some of the season’s key points with creator Dan Harmon (Community), showrunner and executive producer Scott Marder (The Mick), Spencer Grammer (Greek) who voices Summer, Sarah Chalke (Scrubs) who voices Beth, and Chris Parnell (Archer) who voices Jerry. A noticeable absence was co-creator and voice of the titular character, Justin Roiland (Solar Opposites).
The panel of six addresses some of the new fun characters introduced in season five such as Rick’s long-established nemesis in Mr. Nimbus, a character voiced by Harmon himself, who appeared in the season premiere “Mort Dinner Rick Andre.” Marder mentions how the character was finally introduced after being somewhat of a loss within other designs and stories for Rick and Morty episodes. “Rick is ashamed of [Nimbus] being his nemesis and looks like they have a storied past,” said Marder. The panel engages with the idea of embarrassment being on display for the first time for Rick and his proclaimed God-like stature.
A point of the fifth season has been focusing on the greater inclusion of the female characters within the storyline in addition to family-centric adventures instead of the grandpa and grandson duo that audiences have grown accustomed to. Marder opens the floor to the character arc of the nihilistic and standoffish Rick. “Rick is getting more familiar with people and it’s getting more than [just], Rick and Morty,” said Marder. Grammar interjects with the idea that female characters such as her own voice role might be a reason for this to which Parnell jokes, “Nope, that’s not it.”
Regardless, the fifth season has demonstrated a potential growth of separation between the titular characters with each being capable of going out and exploring their own adventures, which has led to the further inclusion of Summer being paired up with her grandpa. “Definitely [this season] explores some friction between Rick and Morty that leaves Summer to jump in…she’s normally more with it than Morty,” stated Marder. Harmon agreed with this statement and the further backing of which grandchild in reality draws the most resemblance to the grandfather. “Rick trusts her with stuff more than Morty,” said Harmon referring to Summer’s can-do and ambitious attitude.
The panel concluded its short roundtable discussing season five with a game show where the cast and crew picked characters that most suitably fit some characterization prompts before a surprise appearance of Rick and Morty cutting in at the end of the stream. Apparently, Rick has made Morty dig some holes in the backyard which led to their late appearance, but unfortunately for the eager Morty, Johnson wraps the panel up and concludes with a short read of the newest episode that will air on Adult Swim on Sunday at 11 PM EST.
Check out the Comic-Con@Home panel below: