As a part of Adult Swim’s various panels during this year’s Comic Con@Home, Dan Harmon (Community) and the cast of Rick and Morty held panel for the show on Twitch. Alongside sharing memories, anecdotes, and favorite moments from Season 4, Harmon revealed the first-ever look at Season 5.
Harmon described the clip as a cold open from an episode of the upcoming season. In the clip, Rick and Morty make a daring escape from a pursuing tentacle monster as Morty confesses his feelings to long-time crush Jessica. While she reciprocates, an old nemesis of Rick’s, named Mr. Nimbus, resurfaces to torment Rick.
This was not the only bit of news revealed about Season 5. Harmon said that Season 4 marks a shift in Jerry and Rick’s relationship. Previously, Rick resented Jerry for marrying his daughter. Starting with season 4 Rick is more fascinated and amused by him: setting the stage for an earnest friendship between the pair in Season 5. In addition, the host asked Harmon for a “super cryptic” hint for the next season. True to form, Harmon grabbed an Emmy off the shelf and re-enacted a scene in which the Emmy (in the voice of Justin Roiland) compels Rick to do something he would never typically do in order to win the award. Finally, while Harmon confirmed the “Clone Beth” storyline is not a part of the fifth season, he promised that “there are some Clone Beth fireworks” in Season 6.
Alongside hinting at what’s to come, Harmon and the voice actors shared their favorite memories from Season 4 while various clips of that season played. Sarah Chalke (Scrubs), Beth’s voice actor, shared her excitement to voice two different versions of the same character with the clones. Chris Parnell (30 Rock), the voice of Jerry, felt it was “fun” to watch Jerry grow more independent and assert himself, such as when Jerry became the leader of the Rejects in “Childrick of Mort.” Finally, Summer’s voice actor Spencer Grammer (Greek) loved exploring Summer’s more adventurous side and how she is more willing to annoy Rick than in earlier seasons. While the main cast was in attendance, Justin Roiland (Gravity Falls)was not.
Harmon spoke on the unique challenges presented when writing in quarantine. As aforementioned, the crew have mostly finished writing for Season 5, and have moved onto Season 6. While in person, everyone gets to yell ideas and spend much more time improvising, with video conferences there is no time to do this. Instead, writing has become more methodical, and the writers have to come to each meeting with plot points and character beats fully mapped out. While this is a departure from tradition, Harmon remarked that the “material coming out of it is just as good if not better” when compared to their writing from earlier seasons.
Production is well underway on Season 5 of Rick and Morty, but an air date has not been announced. Seasons 1 to 3 are available to stream on HBO Max and Hulu, and the whole series is available on the Adult Swim App.