Rick and Morty Still Refuses to Do Time Travel, Makes Fun of Ant-Man and the Wasp

Rick and Morty are still refusing to do time travel and decided to make fun of Ant-Man and the Wasp to prove their point. *Spoilers for The Vat of Acid Episode are ahead* So, Rick has the idea for the titular Vat of Acid to get away from a business deal gone wrong. When Morty decides to call Rick out for a strange idea, the scientist gives his grandson the gift of “time-travel” or something like that. Any avid video game player will recognize that save states are a way to help you get through troublesome parts of a game. Well, Rick is above such shenanigans and used the entire episode to teach Morty a lesson. Time travel is not something that should be abused or taken lightly at all. But, how does this link to Ant-Man and the Wasp?

Well, as Marvel fans know, Scott Lang got stuck in a time vortex in the Quantum Realm in the post-credits scene in the film. That’s how he escaped Thanos’ snap at the end of Avengers: Infinity War and set the stage for the heroes grand victory in Avengers: Endgame. But, Rick doesn’t let the weird and sometimes cheap nature of time travel escape his wrath. He directly mentions Ant-Man and The Wasp when talking about how using such concepts are beneath him. It’s funny because he clues Morty in that all of his adventures still definitely happened, even if he reset things. The kid was boiling countless Mortys alive in his quest to have some fun.

There were more than just references to the Marvel Cinematic Universe though. The Simpsons snuck in there as well as Moe’s Tavern can be clearly seen in the background during the montage. (Eric Clapton streams are going to skyrocket tomorrow because of the use of “It’s In The Way That You Use It” in the episode) South Park also gets a nod with the color schemes of Morty’s jacket and his fellow stranded travelers. They’re all dressed like Kenny, Stan and Kyle from the series on the plane and it doesn’t become clear until they’re all freezing on the floor of the crashed plane together.

As one final middle finger to poor Morty, Rick takes all of the experiences of the copies and folds them into his grandson. But, they inhabit a reality where the only way to escape execution by the justice system is to use Rick’s Vat of Acid and fool everyone. If that weren’t bad enough, Morty has to acknowledge its a good idea and make a show of climbing in. Then, his grandpa reveals that every Rick has had the idea for the Vat of Acid. After two very ambitious episodes, viewers are probably going to rank Vat of Acid among the season’s best.

Did you love the Marvel dig in this episode of Rick and Morty? Let us know in the comments!