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Summary
- Rick and Morty season 7 will feature new voice actors in the roles of the titular characters, following Justin Roiland's exit.
- The new season will continue the story from the season 6 ending, with Rick and Morty on a quest to find and seek revenge on Rick Prime.
- The rest of the voice cast, including Spencer Grammer, Chris Parnell, and Sarah Chalke, will return for Rick and Morty season 7, along with possible cameos from well-known actors.
Rick and Morty season 7 is on its way to Adult Swim in October 2023, and the anticipation for the first volume of the show without Justin Roiland is palpable. Rick and Morty has become one of the most popular animated shows since it debuted on Adult Swim in 2013. The show focuses on Rick Sanchez, the smartest man in the universe whose intellect is matched only by his apathy, and his grandson Morty, an average teenager forever in way over his head. While both titular characters were voiced by co-creator Justin Roiland from series 1-6, Rick and Morty season 7 will feature new voice actors in the roles.
Roiland's exit isn't the only reason viewers are excited for Rick and Morty season 7 thought. Rick happily closed the last season with a monologue that revealed plenty about season 7 and the upcoming story. While the controversy surrounding co-creator and key voice actor Justin Roiland has dominated discussions about Rick and Morty season 7, there's also plenty to digest when it comes to the plot of the next season — especially since Rick is closer than ever to locating Rick Prime.
Most Recent Rick & Morty Season 7 News
The most recent Rick and Morty season 7 news came on September 26, 2023, when Adult Swim released the first full trailer. Notably, the new Rick and Morty trailer was the first time viewers had heard the "new" voices for its titular characters. While the names of the voice actors replacing Justin Roiland still haven't been revealed, the footage from the trailer shows his replacements are more than suitable to take his place in the cast of Rick and Morty season 7.
The trailer also came a few days after the reveal of the Rick and Morty season 7 opening credits, which itself teases more madcap multiversal mayhem and sci-fi-franchise-lambasting for Rick, Morty, Summer, Jerry, Beth, and Space Beth when they return.
Rick & Morty Has Been Renewed For Season 7
Rick and Morty has been renewed for season 7, as announced by Adult Swim back in 2018 when a multi-season renewal of the show was revealed. There will be Rick and Morty episodes through at least 10 seasons of the show based on what Adult Swim has ordered. Writing on season 7 was already underway back in 2021, as revealed by Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon the same year (via Collider).
Rick & Morty Season 7 Release Date
The new Rick & Morty season 7 release date is October 15, 2023. While ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes had created concern there'd be delays to the new Rick & Morty season this hasn't been the cased, with season 7 arriving in October on Adult Swim in the 11 PM ET/PT slot on Sundays, which it will fill until the finale.
Rick & Morty Season 7 Cast
While the voices for Rick and Morty will be portrayed by new actors, the rest of the voices of the Rick and Morty season 7 cast remain intact. No other departures for the series have been announced. That means the Smith family will retain their acclaimed voice cast. Spencer Grammer, best known for the series Greek, returns as Summer Smith. Chris Parnell, who also does voice work for Family Guy, returns as Jerry Smith. Sarah Chalke, who currently stars in the series Firefly Lane, will return as Beth Smith.
Beyond the main cast, there is a good chance veteran voice actors will return to voice-supporting characters in Rick and Morty season 7. Kari Wahlgren, Tom Kenny, Cassie Steele, and Keith David are all likely to return. The series is also known for getting well-known actors to cameo in voice roles, but none have been officially announced for the Rick and Morty season 7 cast yet.
Rick & Morty Season 7 Story
Several elements from the Rick and Morty season 7 plot were revealed at the end of the last season. Season 6 goes out of its way to make the setup for the Rick and Morty season 7 story as clear as possible. As Rick talks about season 7, he emphasizes that it will directly follow from the season 6 ending, with the titular duo exploring the crevices of the galaxy that have registered as having Rick Prime in them. Rick wants revenge on Rick Prime for taking his family from him, and that could be the throughline of Rick and Morty's season 7 story.
However, it's also worth noting that the scientist mentions this plot will be "not every episode, Morty, could be all happening in the background, who knows," putting to rest any fears that the show would no longer feature the whimsical and wacky episodic adventures that it first became known for. However, this is also following up a long-running storyline where the Rick from Earth C-137 has spent decades trying to find the Rick variant that killed his wife and daughter. With that specific Rick variant back in his sights, he has a goal, and he is taking Morty along with him to finally seek vengeance.
With Rick attempting to hunt down Rick Prime in the Rick and Morty season 7 story, the series also released its titles for the season in a special promo trailer. These titles are: "How Poopy Got His Poop Back," "The Jerrick Trap," "Air Force Wong," "That's Amorte," "Unmortricken," "Rickfending Your Mort," "Wet Kuat Amortican Summer," "Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie," "Mort: Ragnarick," and "Fear No Mort."
Rick & Morty Season 7 Trailer
The Rick and Morty season 7 trailer finally arrived on September 25, with less than a month to go before the October premiere date. The key talking point when the trailer for the new Rick and Morty season released on the Adult Swim YouTube channel was, of course, the voice actors replacing Justin Roiland. While the new trailer had plenty of dialogue from both Rick and Morty, the names of those responsible still haven't been made public. It has been confirmed, however, that it will be two actors replacing Roiland, rather than a single new cast member for both characters.
Outside hearing Rick and Morty's new voices for the first time, viewers were also given a glimpse at some of the upcoming episodes of Rick and Morty season 7. One sees Rick transforming himself into a leg, for example, while it's clear that in another Rick is once again going to family therapy. However, when it comes to the names of the replacement Rick and Morty voice actors the trailer didn't give anything away. It's since been revealed that the Rick and Morty season 7 Justin Roiland replacements will be kept secret until the premiere in October 2023.
How Rick & Morty Is Handling Justin Roiland's Exit
Justin Roiland was accused of domestic battery and false imprisonment in 2020. The investigation and several pre-trial hearings continued until early 2023 when the case was supposed to go to trial. Following the building evidence, Cartoon Network and their Adult Swim division fired Justin Roiland from the projects associated with the network. While the charges were eventually dropped, Justin Roiland was not rehired, although this may also have been due to reported BTS issues in addition to the accusation. There was some concern by fans of the shows he was involved in that they wouldn’t be able to move forward.
The biggest concern for Rick and Morty season 7 was that Justin Roiland voiced both Rick and Morty. The titular characters are in every single episode of the series — whether those are the versions the audience usually sees or ones from alternate universes. However, it was soon revealed that both characters would be recast, and that Roiland's impact wouldn't stop or even delay the new season of Rick and Morty.
Executive producer Steve Levy has voiced his thoughts on the series moving on without co-creator (and voice of both titular characters) Justin Roiland. Levy has stated in recent interviews that he considered leaving the project and allowing someone else to take the reins. Ultimately, however, his belief that the rest of the creative team behind the show is a family and that they would be able to work together convinced him to stay for Rick and Morty season 7. Levy explained to the Los Angeles Times:
It would have been very easy to just say, ‘I’m done, and I don’t want to do anything with this show anymore.’ But our crew said, ‘No, we’re not going to let one person drag down all of our hard work.’ This show is created by this team — this family of incredibly hardworking people, and we are going to push through and show the world that we aren’t going to miss a beat. The work that we’re doing across the board has only gotten better. When the new season comes out, we’ll focus on how amazing it all turned out. We hope the fans will realize that this is the same old show, maybe even better!