The removal of Justin Roiland from Rick and Morty may seem to be a major blow to the series, but Rick and Morty has several ways it can explain and integrate new voice actors. Adult Swim announced that it would part ways with Roiland, the series’s co-creator and voice of both title characters, after reports of criminal charges for domestic violence surfaced and were followed by additional allegations of sexual misconduct. Given the seriousness of the allegations, Roiland’s removal was undoubtedly justified, but it raises the question of whether there’s any point doing Rick and Morty without the voice of Rick and Morty.
Voice recasting is rarer in adult-oriented animation than children’s shows, but there are undoubtedly recent examples of it, from series such as Family Guy and The Simpsons recasting Black roles for racial sensitivity to fellow Adult Swim show Squidbillies firing and replacing one of its regulars. Rick and Morty’s challenge in recasting its two key characters is certainly greater than these examples and may be unprecedented given that Roiland was also a co-creator. However, Rick and Morty is also uniquely poised to explain and take advantage of this change.
Rick And Morty Is Uniquely Able to Explain Recasting
Rick and Morty is known for introducing a vast number of alternate-universe and otherwise variant versions of its cast members, ranging from clones to robot copies to “night people.” So it wouldn’t be out of place for the series to introduce new versions of Rick and Morty to explain the recasting and mark a clean break from the Roiland era. In addition, Rick and Morty season 6’s cliffhanger ending could provide several ways to introduce a sci-fi explanation for the current characters having different voices, from some kind of distortion field to an attack by Rick Prime. Rick and Morty season 7 could even justify a rotating cast of guest voices playing the title characters to help reduce the pressure on whoever ends up being the permanent replacement.
The comedy series is also known for its use of meta-humor, dating back to the series premiere’s “Rick and Morty a hundred years” monologue. Breaking the fourth wall a bit to acknowledge that Rick and Morty’s voices have changed would be a way to own the change instead of hiding it and potentially generating a lot of comedy. The inevitable awkwardness of the recasting could be a great source of jokes for Rick and Morty season 7.
Justin Roiland Was Never What Made Rick And Morty Special
In addition to being its lead voice actor, Justin Roiland was a co-creator of Rick and Morty, with the series initially based on his vulgar impressions of Doc Brown and Marty McFly. Much of the series’ dialogue was also based on Roiland’s ad-libbing. However, while Roiland was certainly a significant contributor to Rick and Morty, what separated the series from being a one-note parody was the writing of Dan Harmon and his staff, which added emotional depth to seemingly shallow characters and invented countless high-concept sci-fi plots.
Roiland’s double act as Rick and Morty was undoubtedly a distinctive performance, but this also means that it’s very imitable. There are probably countless comedians and voice actors with a Rick and Morty impression in their back pocket. Quality writing, on the other hand, is more challenging to replicate, as when Dan Harmon was replaced on Community season 4. The transition away from Roiland’s voices will be awkward at the very least, and Rick and Morty faces the same stagnation issues that any long-running show does. But if there’s any show with the ability to recover from such a major cast change and re-invent itself, it’s Rick and Morty.