Rick and Morty: Every Justin Roiland role will be recast

Every Justin Roiland voice role in Rick and Morty will be recast after the co-creator was fired from the animated series amid his arrest for domestic assault.

In January this year, it was reported that Roiland had been arrested in Orange County, California, on a count of felony domestic assault dating back to 2020, although the charges were later dropped.

Nonetheless, Adult Swim made the decision to sever ties with Roiland, who co-created Rick and Morty alongside Dan Harmon. The network reassured fans that the animated series will still return for the ordered Season 7 and beyond. 

Since Roiland voiced the eponymous duo Rick Sanchez and Morty Smith, as well as countless other characters, the move has major implications for the series moving forward. 

Every Justin Roiland role will be recast in Rick and Morty

In a new interview, Adult Swim channel president Michael Ouweleen confirmed that every Justin Roiland role will be recast in Rick and Morty – but whoever takes over won’t be imitating his voice. 

When asked by Premiere what will happen to the characters portrayed by Roiland following his firing, Ouweleen explained: “He will be replaced in dubbing.” 

The outlet then questioned if he meant “by imitators” of Roiland’s voice, to which Ouweleen replied: “No, not imitators… In any case the idea is that we feel that they are the same characters. 

Justin Roiland was fired by Adult Swim earlier this year

“Listen: voices are obviously super important in an animated series. And, of course, none of us wanted to go through what we went through. But I’ve been in animation for a long time, and I know that what makes a series is its different parts coming together. 

“The voices are obviously a big part, but there is also the writing of the characters, their design… I have reason to believe that the transition will go well.”

Rick and Morty’s executive producer Steve Levy chimed in to reassure the fans, stating: “The writing quality has never been better, and all the screenwriters have stayed. I don’t think anyone will bat an eyelid hearing the new voices.”

As for who might take on the monumental roles – and whether or not there will be more than one voice actor – it’s still up in the air right now. As said by Levy: “We are still in the recruitment process.”

How the Rick and Morty team reacted to the Justin Roiland news

In the same interview, the pair opened up about their experience of Roiland’s ousting and the media frenzy that surrounded it. 

“The pill was hard to swallow,” said Levy. “We were shocked and disturbed by what happened. But we stuck together and we put all our energy into the series. 

“We decided to stay positive, and in the end we produced the best drawings, scripts and animations of the entire series. And Dan Harmon [the co-creator of Rick and Morty] has always been in the trenches with us, every step of the way. 

“He always has an eye on everything, and sometimes that means he asks us to rewrite entire scripts, but for the good of the series. He never walked away after Justin left.”

Ouweleen added: “There’s no guide on how to react to this stuff. And it’s not normal to experience that. 

“Of course it’s hard, of course it hurts. But when a whole team works on a series, the series actually becomes more important than one person. Season 7 will be pivotal, we know it, but I think we’ve never done better so far.”

And for those hoping to see more of Rick and Morty down the line, Levy revealed: “Season 8 is already fully written, and we managed to draw a good part of season 9 before the writers’ strike. So we are already talking about season 10!”

Rick and Morty Seasons 1-6 are available to stream on Max or Hulu now. You can check out some of our TV and Movie hubs below:

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