It's time to crack open the Szechuan sauce because Rick and Morty are back in a schwifty new trailer which reveals season four is heading our way with five episodes in November.
As the narrator points out, we're only going to see "half the season you deserve" when the show returns, but that doesn't mean creators Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon are cutting down on the sass.
Rick slays a number of one-liners in the trailer – "I always slay it, queen!" – but bizarrely enough, there's one in particular that might be taking a personal dig at Marvel.
When Rick commands his lab coat to "rip off Doctor Strange", it seems like nothing more than a playful jab at the Sorcerer Supreme, mimicking how his cloak moves around on its own accord.
However, there might be a lot more to it than that, given Dan Harmon's complicated history with Marvel.
Back in 2016, it was reported that the Rick and Morty co-creator had been enlisted to write some additional script pages for the Doctor Strange movie and provide Marvel with his unique expertise.
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However, director Scott Derrickson later revealed that practically none of Harmon's work actually ended up in the final cut. During his interview with Moviefone, the Doctor Strange filmmaker admitted that while some of Dan's jokes "might have stayed in there", the majority of his writing was just "too out in Dan Harmon-land" for Marvel.
Instead, what Harmon provided was a "really striking analysis", helping Derrickson and the team to "break down things" with a fresh perspective.
Because of this, it's easy to see why Harmon might take aim at Marvel on his own show, and this wouldn't be the first time either. Back before he worked on Doctor Strange, the Community creator described Marvel movies as "boring" and "flavourless" in his script for the show's final episode, just one year before the studio enlisted his help.
However, Harmon has since described his time with Marvel as "a joy", explaining (via Reddit) that the experience was "as intensely orgasmic as you'd think, times ten".
Still, it's curious that the new trailer for Rick and Morty sends up Doctor Strange in particular given Harmon's unique history with the character.
Another line Rick says later on in the trailer further hints mysticism may play a key role in one of the new episodes:
"You know what? You're right. I could get used to this magic stuff."
Are we in for an entire Marvel parody episode that rips Doctor Strange apart or was this just a one-off joke?
Until the new episodes start airing in November, it's hard to say, but don't expect Rick — or Harmon — to hold back if there's a grudge to bear against Marvel and the squanchiest sorcerer in the entire multiverse.
Rick and Morty season four will premiere on Adult Swim in the US on November 10.
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After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival.
In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.
David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.
Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends.
As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound.
