Rick and Morty’s seventh season is out next month and ahead of the show’s return, Adult Swim has released a trailer featuring all of the series’ familiar characters. But Rick and his sidekick Morty sound a bit…different.
There’s usually a lot of excitement and hype surrounding the release of a new Rick and Morty trailer. But this time, with the release of the animated show’s season seven trailer, even non-fans are curious to check out the new teaser as it provides the first example of what Rick and Morty will sound like after series creator and lead voice actor Justin Roiland’s departure following since-dropped domestic violence charges.
On September 25, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim premiered the season seven trailer and in it, we hear both Rick and Morty talking a lot.
While they sound similar to how they sounded in past seasons, it’s clear someone new is voicing the two leads. Who that is, we still don’t know. The identity of the new actor(s) likely won’t be revealed until after the show airs.
In a statement provided to The Hollywood Reporter, Cartoon Network said it wants the “show to speak for itself” and that it believed in new voices but wanted to “preserve” the “viewing experience for fans.” This sounds like a lot of gibberish and what it should likely say is that it isn’t revealing names yet in order to protect the new actors from internet abuse and harassment for just a little longer.
Why Justin Roiland was replaced on Rick and Morty
The reason for the swap is due to series creator and original Rick and Morty voice actor Justin Roiland being charged with domestic violence at the start of 2023. NBC News originally reported on January 12 that a criminal complaint had been filed against Roiland in May 2020 for “one felony count of domestic battery with corporal injury and one felony count of false imprisonment by menace, violence, fraud and/or deceit.” He was reportedly arrested on these charges and then pleaded not guilty to two counts in October 2020. As a result, he was placed under a protective order and forced to surrender any guns he owned.
After the lawsuit became public in January, Roiland left the studio that created the hit Game Pass FPS High on Life, Hulu cut ties with him and recast him in another animated show, and Adult Swim dropped him from Rick and Morty. He was also cut from the upcoming High On Life expansion.
In March, the Orange County District Attorney’s office dismissed the case, telling Kotaku it did so due to a “lack of sufficient evidence to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt as a result of additional information that came to light in the investigation.”
After the suit was dropped, Roiland tweeted that it was based entirely on “the word of an embittered ex trying to bypass due process and get me canceled.” He said he was “determined to move forward” with his life and career, adding: “I have always known that these claims were false and I never had any doubt that this day would come.”
On September 13, NBC News reported nearly a dozen people came forward with new accusations of impropriety and even sexual assault against Roiland. They claimed the famous creator used his “Rick and Morty fame” to pursue young fans, as seen in hundreds of text messages obtained by the outlet. Roiland has yet to publicly address these latest accusations.
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