Live-action AI art of Rick and Morty is basically just a play on Tony Stark and Peter Parker. The long-running animated comedy has teased a live-action adaptation in the past, promoting its fifth installment by turning its titular protagonists into real-life characters played by a legendary actor and a rising young performer. The promo also served as a nod to the show’s roots, while offering a relative newcomer the chance to portray a character as recognizable as Morty Smith.
A showcase posted by 5kw1dd on the Midjourney subreddit imagines what a Rick and Morty live-action adaptation would look like if the main characters were all portrayed by very recognizable actors.
In the post, included above, Robert Downey Jr. plays Rick Sanchez, Tom Holland is Morty, Emma Stone is Summer Smith, Ed Helms is Jerry Smith, and Idris Elba is Birdperson. Beth Smith, meanwhile, is played by Christina Applegate, but the facial similarity isn’t quite clear.
Rick & Morty Already Has A Cool Live-Action Take
The series already delivered a clever tease of what a live-action adaptation could be by casting Christopher Llyod as Marty and It actor Jaeden Martell as Morty. Rick and Morty‘s season 5 promo showed Lloyd and Martell stepping out of a portal and into a real version of the family garage that also serves as Rick’s lab. At that point, turning to Martell, Lloyd says: “Morty, we’re home.” Martell responds: “Ah, geez.”
It was a clever bit of advertising that leaned into the show’s origins. Rick and Morty grew from an animated short parody movie of Back to the Future; Lloyd, of course, portrayed Doc Brown in the seminal Robert Zemeckis movie. The promo did include a few nods to the larger Rick & Morty lore, but there were no indications that a full-fledged live-action adaptation would actually come together.
A segment of the fanbase has argued that Rick & Morty in live-action wouldn’t work because the show leans a lot into its animated form, delivering stories that wouldn’t work nearly as well in different formats. But if it ever did happen, even if only for an episode, the show would be better served to avoid casting super famous actors that have recently been associated with other roles.
