Rick and Morty Season 8 isn't coming until 2025, but we do have Rick and Morty: The Anime coming soon on the 2024 TV schedule to scratch that itch. While we've seen footage that teased the return of big characters and such, there's an additional surprise that arrived with the official trailer that has me all the more curious to stream this upcoming Adult Swim series with my Max subscription. The series will be dubbed in English, and in a move I didn't expect, there's a brand new voice cast.
We know that Rick and Morty replaced Justin Roiland with new voice actors for the main series in Season 7, and now the spinoff's English dub will have an entirely new cast. Adult Swim released the names of the main actors involved in the series, which can be seen below, with the Japanese voice actor first for the original and the English voice actor after:
- Rick – Youhei Tadano / Joe Daniels
- Morty – Keisuke Chiba / Gabriel Regojo
- Summer – Akiha Matsui / Donna Bella Litton
- Jerry – Manabu Muraji / Joe Daniels
- Beth – Takako Fuji / Patricia Duran
It's confusing to me that Rick and Morty: The Anime went with different voices for the spinoff rather than using Spencer Grammer for Summer, Chris Parnell for Jerry, and Sarah Chalke for Beth and Space Beth. The series even has voice actor Joe Daniels voicing Rick and Jerry. While it's not necessarily strange in the world of animation to have one voice actor do multiple characters, it's two separate people on the main show.
To make matters even more confusing, the trailer for the anime makes it sound as though actor Keith David will reprise his role as the President of the United States. Why would a guest star reprise the same role he plays in the main series, but the show would not have the stars of the OG series voice their characters in the anime? As I mentioned before, it's a confusing development.
I'm still very stoked to see Rick and Morty: The Anime. However, if Justin Roiland's firing from Adult Swim taught me one thing, it's this: voice actors come and go, and provided the series is still good, that's perfectly fine. I was shocked watching the Season 7 premiere by how quickly I became used to the new voices of the title characters and how immediately it became a non-issue for me.
While it is jarring and slightly confusing that Rick and Morty: The Anime will add new voices to characters who are technically the exact same as the title characters of the main series, I could understand why a change might be made. Perhaps someone at Adult Swim feared that if the same voices were used for the anime, someone might tune in and mistake it for Season 8. I also wouldn't rule out some sort of contractual situation that prevented the main actors from voicing their characters once again, though I'm just speculating here.
Perhaps we'll get answers as we march closer to the series premiere, but until then, I can't wait to see this new show.
Rick and Morty: The Anime officially premieres on Adult Swim beginning Thursday, August 15th at midnight. For those waiting for the Japanese version, they'll be able to catch it the Saturday after each new episode premieres on Toonami at midnight as well.
