Rick and Morty creator wants to “suck it up” and ignore Justin Roiland controversy

Dan Harmon, the creator of Rick and Morty, has responded to questions about how the show will handle the Justin Roiland controversy.

For fans of the animated sci-fi adult show Rick and Morty, the future of its seventh season seemed a bit up in the air.

This is due to the allegations brought against the show’s co-creator and voice of many prominent characters Justin Roiland that ranged from domestic violence to sexual assault. Though the domestic violence charges were dismissed due to insufficient evidence, Roiland was let go from the series.

But things got back on track once Roiland’s parts were recast and the show debuted its Season 7 premiere over the weekend. But, a lot of fans have wondered if the show will ever address Roiland’s exit, which co-creator Dan Harmon has finally weighed in.

Harmon doesn’t want Rick and Morty to dwell on the past

After Season 7’s premiere, Harmon and showrunner Scott Marder sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to talk about Roiland’s recasting and if the show will address the real world events at some point during the season.

“I doubt it,” Harmon explained, “Our metric of absolute success in the transition would be if the hypothetical casual viewer who was out of the loop on any behind-the-scenes drama about the show were to keep right on watching it and say, ‘This season’s better than the other one’ or ‘This may be my favorite episode.'”

“If that person is able to continue their journey from the womb to the tomb with Rick and Morty and a furniture-like stability, that is the best we can do in this particular job. That would preclude being meta and mining this stuff. I don’t think, is the right way to play it on this one. We want to suck it up and play it grown-up style and get back to work.”

Marder also clarified that Roiland left the show “by name” as the writers’ room was already seasons ahead, so much so that they “didn’t work on anything while [they] were on strike.”

Both Rick and Morty were recast to be played by Ian Cardoni and Harry Belden, respectively. As for the rest of Roiland’s side characters, Harm expressed that he would love to see Cardoni and Belden try their hands at voicing them.

Rick and Morty Season 7 Episode 1 is out now, and you can check out more of our coverage below: 

• Who’s voicing Rick and Morty?
How to watch Rick and Morty Season 7
• Who does Hugh Jackman play in Rick and Morty?
• Rick and Morty Season 7 release schedule