Rick and Morty's latest teaser brings the grandfather and grandson to live-action, but who plays the live-action Morty? Created by Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland, Rick and Morty has become one of the biggest animated shows on the air. Adult Swim has been the home of the series for five seasons, and plans are in place for at least two more additional seasons of Rick Sanchez and Morty Smith going on wild adventures.
The popularity of Rick and Morty has repeatedly led to discussions about what the series could be like in live-action. This has led to multiple fan casts that suggest who could play the lead roles. Since the series was conceived as a riff on Back to the Future, Christopher Lloyd has long been at the top of the list to play a live-action Rick Sanchez. In a surprising, exciting, and somewhat confusing piece of marketing, a Rick and Morty live-action teaser made this piece of fan casting a reality. Lloyd plays a live-action Rick Sanchez from dimension C-132 in the teaser and shares the screen with a live-action Morty as well.
The actor playing live-action Morty in the new Rick and Morty teaser is Jaeden Martell. The Pennsylvania native is one of Hollywood's rising young actors ever since he started acting in 2013. Martell is best known for some of his more recent roles, most notably as Bill Denbrough in IT and IT Chapter Two, where James McAvoy played the older version of Bill. Now, Jaeden Martell has brought Morty Smith to live-action for this Rick and Morty teaser.
Jaeden Martell received his first major acting role with 2016's Midnight Special, Jeff Nichols' sci-fi drama starring Joel Edgerton, Michael Shannon, and Adam Driver. He also had a recurring role on Showtime's Masters of Sex in season 3 and season 4. Martell then played the lead role in Colin Trevorrow's The Book of Henry, appeared in the 2019 horror film The Lodge, and later landed a role in Rian Johnson's Knives Out. He recently starred opposite Chris Evans in Apple TV+'s drama Defending Jacob.
Now that Jaeden Martell is Morty Smith in Rick and Morty's live-action teaser, it will be fascinating to see how much he gets to play the character and in what capacity. An appearance in Rick and Morty's season 5 finale seems plausible, but this could also set the stage for Martell to play live-action Morty on a regular basis. He doesn't have that many confirmed upcoming projects, so Adult Swim and Rick and Morty could keep Jaeden Martell busy as Morty alongside Christopher Lloyd's Rick Sanchez if this is meant to be more than a gag.