What the Rick and Morty Movie Means for the Show's Future, Now That It's Officially Happening

Rick and Morty has confirmed that a full length feature film is now in the works, but that means it’s likely going to shake up the future of the TV series too. Rick and Morty is currently gearing up for the premiere of Season 9 of the animated series, which is working towards the tail end of that initial 100 episode plan for the show with Adult Swim. With the animated series also confirming new episodes through to Season 12, Rick and Morty is going to get even bigger with a new movie on the way.

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Rick and Morty series co-creator Dan Harmon has officially confirmed that a feature film is now in the works, and even has series director Jacob Hair as director for the new feature project. While it’s yet to be revealed whether this is going to get a theatrical release or be something streaming directly with HBO Max, it does mean that the new feature is going to be developing alongside the ongoing TV series. And it’s likely not going to be impacting too much of what’s to come other than potentially changing some key perspectives.

Rick and Morty Movie Now in the Works

Speaking with Cinemablend, Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon confirmed that the new movie is now in the works, and there wasn’t really a debate about who they wanted to direct it, “Jacob Hair is, is the director. I mean, we didn’t shop around. He is an absolute, to say rock star is honestly feels like trivializing it because that implies like some kind of flash in the pan, kind of exciting. I mean, Jacob has it like came onto our team. It was like adding a pillar to it.” And this is a good sign as Hair has been behind some of the most notable episodes of the series to date.

Jacob Hair has been attached to breakout award winning episodes like “The Vat of Acid Episode” in Season 4, “Mort Dinner Rick Andre” in Season 5 (which introduced Rick’s rival Mr. Nimbus), “Night Family” in Season 6, “Unmortricken” in Season 7 (which killed off Rick Prime), and most recently the Rick and Space Beth episode, “Valkyrick” in Season 8. He’s also been attached to some episodes in Rick and Morty Season 9, and showrunner Scott Marder also noted to Cinemablend that Hair gets a lot of credit for the overall creative shift, “He’s our supervising director. I mean, if [Season] 9 feels good to you, he’s got a hand. He is responsible for that.”

Developing the Rick and Morty movie with an experienced director from the TV series is a good move forward, but it’s also something that Harmon kept in mind when developing the new project in the first place, “I think when we started talking about a movie and could a movie happen and who would direct it, the first question was, ‘Can Jacob do it?’ Because that would be a dream, as opposed to going out and just getting somebody that did a great job on another animated thing. This is our guy, who has done some of the most amazing work on the show.” That amount of trust in Hair should let fans rest easy about what to expect from the movie.

What Does This Mean for Rick and Morty’s Future?

Rick and Morty has tightened up its production pipeline in the last few years specifically to the point we’re getting a new season of the series every one or two years. If it’s continuing to follow the same path as before, the show is likely already hard at work on Season 10’s episodes with the first bones in for Season 11 on the way. The series has been renewed through to Season 12, and will likely continue with Adult Swim as it is the longest original animated project with the channel these days. But a new movie is going to change a lot of that work.

Hair’s shift over to the Rick and Morty movie means he’ll likely be less hands on with the TV series. Rick and Morty Season 9 has some of the best episodes of the animated series thus far, and opens up the franchise for its next major era. This will in turn allow a new supervising director to likely take over for the TV series in the future, and change the overall tone of its scope from at point forward. We’ve seen other animated series take a long time for their features such as with The Bob’s Burgers Movie and The Simpsons Movie, but it probably won’t be as long of an ordeal for this one.

Both the show and feature are going to be simultaneously worked on, so it’s likely going to take a few years to get to screens. But it’s not going to be the decades long work seen with other franchises. Also given that pretty much any episode is doing its own thing anyway, a feature won’t have to go too far to be an adventure where any viewer can jump into the middle of.

The show already has a massive scope, so that will ultimately be the test. A movie is going to blow things up even more, so we’ll have to see what kind of wild idea is perfect for a multi-hour story. What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!