Rick and Morty loves to hop from one irreverent episode to another, but all the while the show has been weaving a serialized storyline, involving what is arguably the rise of its “Big Bad.” In anticipation of Rick and Morty season 4’s premiere this fall, the official Rick and Morty Twitter account is dropping quite a big villainous tease.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Behold this ominous (and official) tease that “Evil Morty” is still lurking out there in the Rick and Morty universe:
Black and white and dread all over. @adultswim pic.twitter.com/b4ytmXpt6o
— Rick and Morty (@RickandMorty) September 5, 2019
“Black and white and dread all over. @adultswim” —Rick and Morty
That caption and image obviously play on the “What’s black and white and red all over…” joke that has been told for years. However, in this case, the “dread all over” is a nice double-play reference, signaling both Evil Morty’s presence in the poster, as well as the “dread” on the faces of all the other Morty’s around him.
Fans will likely be left wondering if this teaser is actually a reference to an upcoming storyline with Evil Morty, or just an irreverent reminder of the show’s mythos. Truth be told, with Rick and Morty it could be either case.
We last saw Evil Morty in one of the final episodes of Rick and Morty season 3, “The Ricklantis Mixup / Tales from the Citadel”. That episode winkingly broke away from Rick and Morty to explore a multi-pronged storyline about the Citadel of Ricks, which had fallen following Rick’s war with the Galactic Federation, which resulted in the Citadel’s leadership being destroyed. To fill the vacuum of power, The Citadel holds its first democratic election – a political race that ends in the big twist of a charismatic Morty rising up and winning the people over en masse. However, in a dark final twist it’s revealed that the new President Morty is actually Evil Morty, who hasn’t been seen since enacting his frame-up of Rick in season 1. Now Evil Morty has the entire infrastructure and might of the Citadel behind him – but for what purpose, exactly, remains to be seen. Clues about Evil Morty’s origin has been one of Rick and Morty‘s biggest fan-quest puzzles to solve, and could potentially have game-changing impact on the show’s premise and future.
As stated, it’s always hard to judge if Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon are weaving together a deeper semi-serialized story for Rick and Morty, or simply trolling fans with teases of that, without actually committing to solving any mysteries (where is Phoenix Person???).
Rick and Morty season 4 premieres on Adult Swim in November.
