Adult Swim's Rick and Morty has a reputation for a lot of things, but punctuality is not one of them. The show suffered numerous delays between seasons during its four-season run so far, though when it received its massive seven-season renewal, it was speculated that those delays could be fewer and further between. For those looking for positive sign that future seasons will celebrate more timely releases, one of the show's writers has an exciting development about the show's current development.
Rick and Morty staff writer Alex Rubens recently took to social media to tease fans with how far along they are in crafting the series from a non-animated standpoint. Check out his tweet, which hints at the fairly giant backlog of scripts that the writing team has accumulated since the renewal.
Breaking storylines and writing scripts can definitely be a lengthy part of the development process, especially for an animated show that doesn't have a "filming" period. (Which isn't to say storyboarding and other elements aren't handled during that time.) Keep in mind that Rick and Morty is still preparing to release Season 5 on Adult Swim at some point hopefully in the summer or fall, so the fact the writing team is already working on Season 7 is a good sign of unimpeded progress being made on that end, likely helped along by quarantining.
Any amount of future progress regarding Rick and Morty is good news, although realistically, we still have no way of knowing just how helpful this work will go in terms of getting finished episodes to fans sooner. Common sense would dictate things may move a little quicker now, but with all productions somewhat slowed by COVID protocols and the like, it still could be a minute before audiences actually see a new episode of the Adult Swim show. That said, a big part of the delays in earlier seasons came down to making sure the scripts were good enough for the ever-fervent fanbase, so those issues seem to have been eliminated.
Personally, I am more curious about exactly why the writers are continuing to plow ahead from season to season seemingly without any formidable vacations. One can theorize that the writers are looking to feature more arcs and connective serialization for past characters (even though co-creator Dan Harmon has claimed the opposite at times), and that structure may be easier pull off all at once, or as quickly as possible, as opposed to waiting until seasons are fully set to air before diving back into the creative zone.
A potential downside of working so far out in advance is that the Rick and Morty team won't have fan feedback to keep track of ahead of covering these seasons. (Not a downside for them, I'm sure.) The series hasn't had a hard time keeping fans happy in the past, but if something were to change in Season 5, the team already has another two seasons in the books that have a similar style. Of course, just because future episodes are written doesn't mean they can't be revised in the meantime, especially when it comes to timely matters.
Rick and Morty Season 5 doesn't have a release date yet, though creator Dan Harmon has claimed the show is on track with its original release plans, even with COVID-19. Binge the series on HBO Max in the meantime, and check out why I believe the show should eventually make the jump to the big screen in the coming years.
