'Ricky and Morty' Reveals New Looks at Season 4 Ahead of Premiere

In the week leading up to the season premiere of Rick and Morty, we have gotten a new clip or [...]

By Michael Hein

In the week leading up to the season premiere of Rick and Morty, we have gotten a new clip or teaser every single day. Adult Swim is pulling out all the stops to promote Rick and Morty Season 4 without giving away too much. With the first episode not far off, there are a handful of glimpses to look back on.

Rick and Morty Season 4 is one of the most highly anticipated TV events of the year, and that is saying something in today's deluge of prestige series, nostalgia-driven reboots and experimental streaming hits. The irreverent cartoon dissects the dynamics of a broken family through the lens of high-concept sci-fi adventures.

Rick and Morty made big waves last year when Adult Swim gave it an unheard-of renewal deal. After producing three seasons with a total of 31 episodes in about 4 years, the network ordered 70 more episodes of the series, ensuring it would go on for years to come.

If that were not enough of a vote of confidence, Rick and Morty has already been announced for the catalogue of HBO Max, WarnerMedia's new streaming service coming in the spring. The company put all of its biggest intellectual properties on the service to entice new subscribers, and against all odds, this late-night cartoon made the cut.

All of this adds up to a huge launch for Season 4, which premieres on Sunday, Nov. 10. Back in July, series co-creator Justin Roiland told Entertainment Weekly that the season consists of 10 episodes in total, like the two that came before it. The promotional material promises five new episodes starting this weekend, so there is likely a mid-season break coming just in time for the holidays.

All of this news came with just a few snapshots of the upcoming episodes, including a trailer, a few stills, two short scenes and the new title sequence.

Here is everything we have seen from Rick and Morty Season 4 so far.

5 Days

Counting down to the premiere of Season 4, the official Rick and Morty Twitter account posted a teaser each day. First, the tweet would feature a glimpse of the image in the shape of the number of days left, then in a follow-up post they would unveil the full shot.

At five days out, we got a simple picture of the Smith family enjoying a lavish breakfast, with all eyes on Morty. Later in the week, this is the scene we got to see a clip of.

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4 Days

At four days out, we saw a characteristically angry Rick in a scene that would have left most people awestruck. The mad scientist rode a transparent elevator through a cave of luminescent rocks and fungi, apparently impatient to get to where he was going. We will have to see whether he built this elevator himself, or if he is just visiting its creators.

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3 Days

Three days before the season premiere, we saw Beth and Summer squaring off in some kind of dueling match using only household items. For once, there are no lasers or aliens, and the background is not a post-apocalyptic wasteland or a utopian metropolis, so the stakes may be lower than they sometimes get here. It will undoubtedly still be compelling TV.

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2 Days

On Friday, we saw a shot similar to one on the trailer set in Rick's garage. The scientist stood with his hand on his hips as Morty applied ointment to his burnt skin. In the trailer, he heard Rick warn Morty to be precise with this paste.

"Let that salve sit for ten minutes or you'll die," he warned. "Don't let it sit for 12, or I'll have to hunt down what you become."

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1 Day

With one day left before the premiere, we got the shot that might most accurately represent what the season is really all about. It shows Jerry yelling at Rick in front of the garage, while Beth looks on and holds Morty by the shoulder. The show has gotten grim in tackling the family dynamic over the years, and in the Season 3 finale, we saw Jerry reassert his place in the household in spite of Rick's best efforts. Here, their awkward rivalry may come to a head once again.

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Tonight

Finally, the last teaser image shown through the word "tonight" on Sunday morning. It showed Morty looking anxious behind the wheel of Rick's makeshift spaceship while Rick himself looked on in apparent anger. Behind them was an unspecific landscape of rocks, dust and asteroids.

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'Anime Stuff'

Also on Sunday morning, the official Adult Swim Twitter account shared one of the teasers we saw earlier, but with some possible dialogue beneath it. It is not clear whether this is really what Jerry will say in this scene or not, although it would not be that surprising.

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Jessica's Necklace

we got more than a teaser on Saturday, as Adult Swim also released the first clip from Rick and Morty Season 4. It revisited the scene around the table at breakfast, where Summer called Morty out for obsessively checking the Instagram page of his crush, Jessica. The awkward scene seems to leave off in the middle of a joke, yet it assures us that Morty is still very much a teen boy, no matter what he has been through and accomplished in recent years.

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New Opening Credits

On Friday, Adult Swim released the new opening credits sequence for Rick and Morty Season 4. As in years past, some of the most iconic shots are the same. It opens with the original animation of the titular duo running on an alien planet, with Rick diving into a portal as Morty trips and is accosted by giant green monsters.

From there, we see Rick flying through space towards a giant mutated Morty head in some kind of intergalactic battle, followed by a tiny cyborg dropping into Rick's garage and killing three snakes, while Rick, Morty and Beth watch in the background.

Other shots include a giant Morty emerging naked from an alien ocean, Rick hitting a button to reveal sci-fi rifles hidden inside the refrigerator, which he aims at a two-headed goose, and the classic scene where Rick, Morty and Summer fly away from a giant C'Thulu-like monster in his spaceship while Summer clutches its baby.

As always, we have no way of knowing which of these clips, if any will appear in the show itself. In Season 3, only a few of the quick-cut moments made it into the main story. It all just serves as a reminder that Rick and Morty have plenty of adventures while the audience is not watching.

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Glootie

Looking way back, the first glimpse we got of Rick and Morty Season 4 actually came in July, when Adult Swim released a short scene featuring an alien computer programmer named Glootie, played by Taika Waititi. From the sound of it, he and Jerry create a start-up together before Morty finally convinces his dad that it's a scam. we will have to wait and see how this plays out next week.

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Episode Titles

A while back, Adult Swim also announced the titles for the five episodes coming up this year. Admittedly, they can't tell us much about the contents of the stories themselves. Rick and Morty episode titles are always parodies of other sci-fi property titles, but they do not necessarily influence the story that much. Still, these are the episodes we have to look forward to this fall.

"Edge of Tomorty: Rick Die Rickpeat"

"The Old Man and the Seat"

"One Crew Over the Crewcoo's Morty"

"Claw and Hoarder: Special Ricktim's Morty"

"Rattlestar Ricklactica"

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Trailer

Lastly, there is plenty to see in the trailer, which was released last month. It is unclear if this trailer shows clips only in the first five episodes of the season, but if so, it is that much more impressive. This show is infamous for cramming so much world-building, comedy and depth into so little time, and if this trailer is any indication, that will not be changing now.

Rick and Morty Season 3 premieres on Sunday, Nov. 10 at 11:30 p.m. ET on Adult Swim.

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