A popular Rick and Morty theory gives Evil Morty an even larger connection to Rick and the show overall. Debuting on Cartoon Network back in 2013, the zany animated series quickly gained notoriety for its humor and creativity. Focusing on a dimension-traveling grandpa and grandson (Rick and Morty respectively), the series has pushed the limits of what the viewers will accept, like the famous Pickle Rick.
The adventures of Rick and Morty are vast in the three seasons that it's been on air, and fans of the beloved show already know that Rick and Morty will continue on for a long time after 70 new episodes were ordered. This will give creators Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland even more time to expand the world and flesh out the central characters, including the many different versions of them. Just like Pickle Rick, Rick and Morty's premise has allowed for several incarnations of the two main characters to be introduced through their dimension-hopping adventures.
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One of these characters is Evil Morty, who first appeared in the tenth episode of the series, and is a - you guessed it - evil version of Morty that exists in the multiverse. He's grown to become the true antagonist of the series and currently resides as the President of the Citadel of Ricks. But, despite his already complex relationship with the show's two main stars, some believe there may be more to the story. In the latest Screen Rant video, we take a look at an increasingly popular Rick and Morty theory that suggests Evil Morty is actually the first Morty in Rick's life.
This theory is largely built around Rick having memories of being with a baby version of Morty, and even having a picture of him holding the child. The official synopsis of the series mentions that Rick has been absent from the lives of his family for 20 years, which would mean that the teenage Morty who's the main character of the show grew up without a grandfather. The theory builds off this and a few select pieces of dialogue to claim that the memory and photo of Rick with a baby Morty is actually from a different reality - and that the abandonment of this other Morty is what led to Evil Morty becoming who he is.
While this is a fun theory to consider, it's so far not been proven to be true by the show itself. There are even some possible easy explanations for why the memory and photo exist, such as the simplest that Rick was largely absent from Morty's life but still stopped by every now and then when he was much younger. Even though this is just a theory for the time being, the confirmed future for Rick and Morty at the very least gives it a chance to address the theory in some fashion, even if it means debunking it.