Evidence Mounts for a 'Rick and Morty' Season 3 Delay

Despite several sources assuring fans that Rick and Morty would return for Season 3 before the end of 2016, fan rumblings and production rumors have begun freaking everyone out. A joke image from Futurama, titled “Rick and Morty Season 3 Release Date Announced” shot to the top of Reddit’s rankings so quickly that mods had to cross its title out and specify the post as a joke. Much of the panicked discussion about the show lives on Reddit, and naysayers have begun responding to the crowd online as well.

Specifically, a Reddit user PopDavid, has begun warning users on /r/RickandMorty to expect a 2017 premiere date. PopDavid, according to his posts, is a Design Assistant on the show, and his assertions about the premiere date have been pinned to the top of the fan discussion board as definitive information. If he’s to be believed, we won’t get new Rick and Morty episodes as soon as Dan Harmon and some of his writers have reported to the press. Wubba lubba dub dub, in the most classic sense, indeed.

According to PopDavid, most of the reports regarding Rick and Morty’s schedule have been exaggerated, or simply inaccurate. PopDavid, in his October post, negated any word that writing on Rick and Morty had been completed, although Dan Guterman, a staff writer on the show, tweeted at the end of October that the season’s script was nearly complete. PopDavid, on the other hand, writes, “Dan and the writers keep putting out info that’s not entirely accurate.” As for official word from Adult Swim, a few teases on plot have been released, but the network has not made a statement on the premiere date. All Inverse attempts to contact Adult Swim about Rick and Morty Season 3 were met with a simple, “We’ll let you know.”

In addition to the Gromflomite soldier, the official Rick and Morty Twitter account released a shot of the Smith family garage, which is noticeably missing all of Rick’s experiments and technology.

It’s difficult to say either way whether the show will premiere in 2016, or in early 2017, but one thing remains clear: Adult Swim fans have always been noticeably obsessive — consider how many fans returned to The Venture Bros Season 6 after an extremely long hiatus, or how many fans are still demanding more Metalocalypse — but Rick and Morty has blasted to pieces any previous understanding of what a “hit” means for the network. A combination of the animated sitcom’s dense lore and penchant for Dan Harmon-esque inside jokes and continuing easter egg bits has worked its fandom into a frothy panic over a Season 3 delay. As Rick would say, “That’s planning for failure, Morty. Even dumber than regular planning.”