Rick and Morty: Dan Harmon Reveals How Writing Has Changed Since Justin Roiland Firing

Rick and Morty made some major changes behind the scenes before Season 7’s premiere as Adult Swim cut ties with co-creator and voice behind the two titular characters, Justin Roiland, and co-creator Dan Harmon has opened about how the writing process for the series has changed now that Roiland has exited the production. Rick and Morty‘s first few seasons notably took a long time to produce and release due to the amount of turmoil behind the scenes as Harmon and Roiland reportedly could not agree on what direction to take the series in the early days of its release. 

Rick and Morty‘s Dan Harmon explained to Variety that he hopes that Season 7 and beyond marks a new era for the series as writing for the series has changed significantly behind the scenes. Addressing the “turbulence” of the early seasons, Harmon revealed that the energy from newer writers allowed him to step back and really helped during his darkest moments as the new writers were able to remain fans of the series they were working on. 

How Rick and Morty’s Writing Has Changed for Season 7

“I think now it can be said that there’s been so much turbulence going on behind the scenes that Season 6 kind of represented me [unplugging] those wires from my heart and my obsessive brain. I had to look at the show as a job,” Harmon began. Then he elaborated with the fact that the newer writers (such as Albro Lundy and James Siciliano, who wrote Episode 6, “Unmortricken,” specifically) were able to essentially recharge him with their point of view on Rick and Morty. 

“It was fantastic,” Harmon continued. “That invigorating energy that they bring to the table as people that are able to remain fans of the thing that we’re working on — I really needed that in my darkest hours.” And as for some of the big moments that have happened with Season 7 since, Harmon believes it’s not really the end of Rick’s story just yet by any means, “I think there’s still a conclusion to a story here,” Harmon continued, “because the narcissist will tell you that destroying yourself, it doesn’t solve a problem.” Before concluding with, “This is how far we’ve come with Rick’s journey…He is now the one who is existentially isolated. He is the one that doesn’t feel like he fits in the universe around him. Which puts him on the same level as a 14-year-old boy learning there’s multiple universes 10 show-years earlier.”

How are you liking Rick and Morty Season 7 so far? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! 

via Variety