Television

Cartoon Shows

Rick And Morty Season 9 Brings Back The Show's Biggest Villain

By Rafael Motamayor

May 24, 2026 11:30 pm EST

_

Adult Swim

Warning: The following post contains_ spoilers for the Season 9 premiere of "Rick and Morty," titled "There's Something About Morty."

"Rick and Morty" is back, baby! 100 years, let's go! To celebrate the start of Season 9, the Adult Swim adult animated sci-fi comedy brought back the biggest and best villain in the show. No, not Rick, though he is arguably his own worst enemy. Instead, I'm referring to none other than Evil Morty.

In the episode, Morty discovers that Rick has been in contact with Evil Morty for a while, going on adventures together. This is despite the fact that Evil Morty literally schemed his way into becoming president, then murdered a whole bunch of Rick and Mortys just to escape from the multiverse where all Ricks reside in order to be rid of him once and for all. Well, that didn't stick for long, because Evil Morty has apparently been blackmailing Rick with the Omega Device from Season 7, which can eliminate every variant of the Smith family across the multiverse.

It's a rather good episode that features some stunning animation with fight scenes inspired by anime (especially "Akira"). But what makes the episode stand out is how much it focuses on Evil Morty still being a teenage boy who misses his family and desperately needs the attention and validation of his grandpa. Morty is just like Rick. No matter how much sci-fi tech he has, how fantastical his story gets, or how much he considers himself a god, Morty is still just a dumb, insecure human with very simple, human needs.

Rick and Morty doesn't just rely on big recurring characters

Adult Swim

It's wild to think of just how huge "Rick and Morty" was around 2015 to 2017. The show was everywhere, its influence dominating the adult animation space by inspiring countless imitators. "Rick and Morty" even caused chaos when fans flooded McDonald's over a silly promotional sauce release. But in the years since, the hype has died down, and the conversation around the show got a lot quieter.

This has allowed "Rick and Morty" to focus on telling good stories rather than having to focus on continuity or "canon." Sure, occasionally the show acknowledges fans' expectations by delivering a big lore episode or bringing back a big character like Evil Morty. Still, this happens only every once in a while, and even then the show goes to great lengths to make it clear this will not be a common occurrence.

This tracks with co-creator Dan Harmon's own beliefs on canon and serialization. Notoriously, Harmon hates canon, despite his audience loving it. He considers the whole point of canon to be something you have to defy, rather than it being the main drive of the story. You can see this throughout "Rick and Morty," but especially in the last few seasons. Even when Rick Prime was introduced in Season 7, he wasn't the main thrust of that season, but rather appeared sporadically.

This is all to say, don't expect Evil Morty to be a recurring character, or to even be important to the show. Instead, let's enjoy any and all appearances of the show's best villain for what it is — a cool guest star with a long history with the main characters.