'Rick and Morty' creators on their inspirations as season 9 tackles the multiverse, evolution, and a kung-fu fight in a Trader Joe's parking lot (interview)

Morty goes to summer camp in "Rick and Morty" season 9 (Image credit: Adult Swim)
"Rick and Morty" season 9 has already been eliciting riotous laughter since it arrived last week for a fresh and frantic 10-episode leap into more ‘multiverse galactic s**t.’ It’s one of the show's best and brightest seasons yet, with a cavalcade of interdimensional wackiness to enjoy.We hooked up with "Rick and Morty" co-creator, Dan Harmon, and showrunner Scott Marder to get the full scoop on what this new batch of episodes brings. leaning back into hard sci-fi, and that sweet martial arts showdown in a treacherous Trader Joe's parking lot."I think it felt familiar and felt relatable," Marder explains to Space regarding the third episode, "Rick-Fu Hustle.” “Like, how cool would it be if an episode could just start from a minor fender bender? In this case, it just so happens to be with a kung-fu master, that gets the whole story rolling. A lot of times those are really joyful starts to episodes, things that start as small as that."
EARLY PREVIEW: Rick Fu Hustle | Rick and Morty | adult swim - YouTube
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Harmon is eager to hear enthusiastic reactions from viewers, both longtime and new."It's been a long, turbulent ride," he notes. "The show's been on for a long time. Scott came on board to run it, and it was not a rewarding job to be brought into it. That's the thing I’m excited about. It’s like feeling like a grown-up. Having a show, and it’s airing, and it's airing on schedule, and people are responding to it and liking it."There's one episode in particular that Harmon is excited to see the fan reaction to. "I’m really excited to see people’s response to the evolution episode," he reveals. "It was a little bit of a departure and an experimental way of telling a story, and I'm interested to see if it's a crowd-pleaser or not. I'll be proud of it regardless."As showrunner and executive producer, Marder senses a creative solidarity flowing into this latest outing that starts with the entire creative team across the board."This season in a lot of ways is a celebration, and I think you can feel it in everything," he adds. "Everyone was so grateful that this show held together and weathered all the storms it did internally. All our best people stayed with us. The morale was through the roof, and you could feel it in every department, and it bled into every episode. That's why it feels so dense and upbeat. Everyone was so thrilled being part of this thing. It just doesn’t feel like the ninth season of a show; it feels like the third season of a show."




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