Rick and Morty co-creators Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland give fans the best April Fools’ Day joke they possibly could have: the entire first episode of the show’s upcoming third season.
Although it only aired for a 24 hours on Adult Swim, the network also released a number of teasers for the full season, hinting at a summer release date. Adult Swim also tweeted out the expected air date after the premiere, “The Rickshank Redemption” finished its 24-hour loop.
Aaaaaand that's the way the news goes. Thanks for watching "The Rickshank Rickdemption"! More to come this summer...#rickisfree
— Rick (((and Morty))) (@RickandMorty) April 2, 2017
While that’s a positive sign for fans who have been waiting more than 18 months for a new season, this isn’t the first time the show has had an expected release window. Rick and Morty’s third season was supposed to be released last fall, but was pushed back after Harmon confirmed it wasn’t ready to go to air.
The ongoing delay of the series’ third season has caused a bit of a rift between Harmon, Roiland and some of their fans. In January, Harmon tweeted out a series of updates about the show, acknowledging they were working hard on it and the season would premiere when it was ready.
Since then, both the networks and the show’s creators have teased fans with new episodes. In February, Adult Swim released an exclusive “clip” from the show, which turned out to be nothing more than a play on the Rickroll meme. Based on the series of new commercials, however, it looks like this summer might actually see the show’s next season.
Rick and Morty’s season three premiere is no longer streaming on Adult Swim, but there are methods available online for those who don’t want to wait until the summer to see it. All of the weird teasers that played during the premiere this weekend can be played on Adult Swim’s YouTube page.