Rick and Morty has evolved from being an adult cartoon about a teenager and his mad-scientist grandfather to a cultural phenomenon, with beloved characters, bizarre worlds, and outright zaniness from the twisted minds of creators Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland. Three and a half seasons into a purported ten-season run, it seems like this show has plenty ahead; one possibility being a Rick and Morty movie.
Could the creators actually turn the beloved adult animated series into a feature-length film? Would a big-screen adaptation be able to capture the series’ spirit? Here are five reasons we need a Rick and Morty film, and five reasons we don’t.
DO: If It Worked For Teen Titans Go…
Teen Titans Go! and Rick and Morty are two very different cartoons. One is almost universally reviled while the other is almost universally praised. In the summer of 2018, Teen Titans Go! To The Movies actually performed very well, especially with its focus on subverting superhero tropes and being generally self-aware.
Rick and Morty is exactly that, it points out the flaws of established tropes and completely defies convention in order to help Rick prove a point. A movie works because it essentially amounts to Dan Harmon pointing out flawed movie tropes all while having an epic adventure with Morty.
DON’T: Dan Harmon’s Maddening Perfectionism
The gaps between Seasons Two, Three, and Four have been a year and a half and two and a half years, respectively. This doesn’t include the current gap between Season Four Parts 1 and 2. Part of the reason why these breaks take so long is Dan Harmon’s maddening perfectionism.
Because of how long Harmon can take, if the hypothetical movie was to come in between the show’s run, not only could the production delays take forever but the timing of the seasons could also suffer as well, and as people have found out, the Rick and Morty fanbase is not the most patient when it comes to waiting.’
DO: An Opportunity To Flesh Out Antagonists
Season 3 saw the return of Evil Morty in “The Ricklantis Mixup”. Tammy and Phoenixperson (or Cyber Bird?) made their returns in the post-credits scene of “The Rickshank Redemption”. While it was great to see both antagonists come back, there wasn’t much to go on except to say “Hey, they’re back!”
Even if Tammy or Evil Morty aren’t the main antagonists in a movie, it would be great to further establish their characters. Is Evil Morty C-137 Rick’s original Morty? How did Tammy get involved with the Galactic Federation? There are so many questions, and it feels like they can only be addressed at feature length.
DON’T: It Won’t Please The Fandom
Fandoms inevitably arise out of shows and movies, and as people saw when the new Star Wars movies came out, they can get very toxic when they don’t get exactly what they want. In their mind, their devotion should be rewarded with absolute perfection. The combination of a perfection demanding fanbase and a perfectionist creator is potentially chaotic.
Even if the hypothetical R&M movie is critically praised, that won’t protect it from a nitpicky fanbase. Since Harmon isn’t kowtowing to the fandom, it would lead to a lot of animosity between creator and fanbase and depending on when it is released, it could lead to a decline in episode quality or dissatisfaction with the ending.
DO: The Fourth Wall Would Be Obliterated
One of the best parts of Rick and Morty is the meta-commentary and fourth wall breaking. Rick, supposedly aware that he is in a TV show has made several references to the fact. Put him in front of the silver screen, and those jokes could be taken up to eleven.
Imagine a beginning where Rick and Morty enter through a portal and berate the audience about how dumb they are for plunking down however much money they did for tickets and snacks. Or throughout the film, Rick repeatedly makes references to the fact that the audience is there. The opportunity to cram in as many meta jokes as possible would be worth the price of admission alone.
DON’T: Do You Really Want To Listen To Justin Roiland Talk To Himself For That Long?
While the episode “The Ricklantis Mixup” was a great opportunity to see what life was like in the Citadel, Justin Roiland talking to himself using his Rick and Morty voices wore thin by the third act. If the movie is going to be about Rick and Morty, obviously they will have the most screen time and they will talk the most, at each other no less.
15 minutes of Rick talking to Morty is tolerable, but 70 to 120 minutes of Roiland self-conversating is definitely a test of any fan’s tolerance threshold. Add any secondary and background characters and it could really become irritating.
DO: Rick’s Backstory Is Worth Expanding
Since season 1, all fans know about Rick Sanchez is that he has a God complex, has abandoned his family, and hates Jerry. Rick’s backstory is a mystery. Fans thought they could have seen how Rick’s origin story in “The Rickshank Redemption”, but were duped as much as the Galactic Federation.
Whether or not the creators intend to keep Rick’s backstory a mystery, a movie could help explain how Rick became the mad scientist he is, why he made certain decisions and if fans should be rooting for him. It would also be interesting to see how he befriended Birdperson and the President.
DON’T: It Will Detract From The Canon
If a Rick and Morty movie were to be made, one of the biggest concerns would be how it affects the series canon, especially if it comes after the series ends. To provide a couple of examples, Blue Mountain State released a movie after the series ended which was poorly received. After the initial modest success of the first The X-Files movie, the second, I Want to Believe was not as well received.
The complaints from those movies were about how they affected how the series ended. Should a Rick and Morty movie be made after the show ends, fans will likely see it as an extension of the canon and, again, running into the issue of fan reception, if it is not well received, it will be viewed as a black mark on a series that up until this point has been critically praised.
DON’T: There Just Isn’t A Need, And If There Is, It’s Way Too Early
The idea that fans “need” a Rick and Morty movie is incredibly preposterous. The show is three and a half seasons into what is expected to be a ten season run. Harmon and Roiland have barely scratched the surface, have only just begun to establish the Rick-Smith family dynamic, and have only started creating the Rick and Mortyverse.
To create a movie while the show hasn’t even hit its apex would just be incredibly unnecessary and irresponsible. It would be seen as an insincere cash grab, a thinly veiled attempt to chase trends, and ultimately would end in failure. Let Harmon and Roiland let the show run its course, and let them admit if, and when, they are ready to make a movie.
DO: It Would Play To Harmon’s Strengths
Dan Harmon has been known to be a perfectionist. Whereas he and Justin Roiland have started to work on an accelerated schedule, giving Harmon more time to flesh out his story how he sees fit, and incorporate the main characters and important secondary characters would play to his strengths and likely lead to a higher quality movie.
Like El Camino: A Breaking Mad Movie, which was critically praised, having a movie released a few years after the show’s original run would allow Harmon to do what he does best. A movie takes time and serious investment, and Harmon doesn’t cut corners. If he’s making a movie he’s doing it on his own terms and creating something that will exceed his own expectations.
