'Rick and Morty' Vindicators: Christian Slater Talks Playing Vance Maximus
He definitely didn't forget about that grisly death.
One of many high-profile guest stars in Rick and Morty Season 3 was Christian Slater, perhaps most recently recognizable as the titular Mr. Robot. In an interview published Friday with Comic Book Movie, the actor reflected on his brief time on the Adult Swim show. As it turns out, he had some strong feelings about the fate of his character, Vance Maximus.
In Rick and Morty Season 3, Vance Maximus was the “Renegade Starsoldier,” a knock-off of the MCU’s Star-Lord who led the superhero team called the Vindicators. But Rick Sanchez’s spiteful machinations killed almost all of them, Starsoldier included. Slater, as it turns out, had a lot of fun playing out the gruesome death. “I had a great time doing that,” he said, talking more about working with Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon. “We just had fun that particular day and it was another one of those situations where I was in a booth and I had to fly into the thing, try to escape, and ended up getting shot to bits. We were both laughing at that particular moment.” Here’s that moment:
Slater is no stranger to voiceover work, either. This year he’s the starring as the voice of Deadshot in the animated DC Comics film Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay. He also voices the cobra Ushari on The Lion King spin-off show The Lion Guard. Considering the untimely death of Vance Maximus in Rick and Morty Season 3, it’s unclear if he’d ever return to the show. But there’s a whole multiverse out there that Rick and Morty might visit in Season 4.
Oni Press actually released a Rick and Morty comic in which an alternate reality Vindicators team recruits Morty and Rick for what’s basically an Infinity War parody. The comics only loosely relate to the show, but all the same, it paves the way for directions that Season 4 could go in.
So it’s doubtful that Slater would ever actually return to Rick and Morty. Like many high-profile guest stars, his role might wind up being a one-off thing.
All the same, Christian Slater voicing the obnoxious and egotistical alcoholic Vance Maximus was a delight in Rick and Morty Season 3, even if he did say, “I never forget a kid!” at one point.
