Should Rick and Morty Introduce New Variants of Rick and Morty to Replace Roiland?
Rick and Morty fans are still reeling from the announcement that series co-creator Justin Roiland, who voices both Rick and Morty, was being fired from the show following allegations and charges of serious sexual/domestic misconduct. With Roiland now gone, there have been some serious questions about how Rick and Morty can possibly continue. The options are pretty clear: recast Rick and Morty, or end the show.
Adult Swim has announced that the decision has been made to continue Rick and Morty without Roiland, but by now we all know how this process goes: Rick and Morty get recast with a new voice actor (or actors), but even a considerable fraction of those who admantly wanted Roiland gone end up dissatisfied with the change and deem Rick and Morty over.
In actuality, the premise of Rick and Morty makes recasting the characters fairly easy – it's just a question of how you do it.
Rick and Morty: No One Has EVER Been Safe
Rick and Morty's entire story premise has the titular characters hopping through the multiverse, constantly colliding with alternate versions of themselves (in addition to numerous foes). Right from Season 1 (even the opening credits) the series established that holding onto any particular version of Rick and Morty (or their entire world) as "sacred" is a big mistake. Major characters (Jerry, Beth, Summer) have been swapped out for variants, while entire realities have been abandoned for new worlds.
Now granted, Rick and Morty has been able to play with the idea that nothing and no one is safe largely because the core creative team and cast never really changed, so fans were never too aggravated by any narrative alterations. But Justin Roiland's voice being gone is definitely a different sort of situation.
Why Rick and Morty Needs New Versions of Rick and Morty
To get over the awkward hurdle of keeping Rick and Morty going, and re-introducing the titular characters, with new voices, in a way that fans can actually embrace, the answer is simple: introduce new variants of Rick and Morty as the central characters!
It's easy to speculate that Justin Roilands work on Rick and Morty extends into the upcoming Season 7, which is already in production. There's an opportunity there, in that Rick and Morty's latest seasons have set up actual archvillains (Evil Morty, Rick Prime) and a conflict that can be utitlized. Rick and Morty Season 6 ended with Rick C-137 (our protagonist) pledging to finally hunt down Rick Prime to settle their score. That conflict (or whatever Evil Morty is up to) could easily end with the death and/or reboot of Rick and Morty, into new versions (or variants from a key alternate reality) who then carry the series forward. Those new variants having entirely new voices is a resonable enough change that fans can accept it, as the "New Rick and Morty" wouldn't need to imitate or be beholden to Roiland's characterizations.
In a larger sense, New Rick and Morty would also offer whole new backstory and mythos to the series, to rekindle fan interest. We would essentially be getting to explore a whole new Rick and Morty storyline and series – which would clearly separate the "Roiland Era" from whatever comes next.
Do YOU think Rick and Morty should reboot the characters with new versions?
Rick and Morty Season 7 is now in production.