SinceRick and Mortyhas already offered viewers the best live-action take on the series, there is no need for the show to now produce a full-blown live-action theatrical movie spinoff.Rick and Mortyseason 8is one of the most exciting TV comebacks of 2025. The acclaimed cult comedy has been on the air since 2013, butRick and Mortyseason 7’s endingproves the show hasn’t lost its appeal yet. Season 7, episode 10, “Fear No Mort,” was an inventive, creepy, and hilarious outing that fleshed out Morty’s character more than ever before.
Since the series is faring so well with critics and fans alike, with “Fear No Mort” earningRick and Mortyits bestIMDbrating in years, it might seem like perfect timing for the show to release a feature film. The idea ofRick and Morty: The Moviehas been in the works for years, and series co-creator Dan Harmon has occasionally commented on his ideas for the feature-length spinoff. However, despite how fun it might sound,Rick and Morty’s spinoff movie should not be in live-action, even though this would represent a major medium shift for the series.
Christopher Lloyd As Rick Was All We Needed From A Live-Action Rick And Morty
The Back to the Future Star Was A Perfect Live-Action Rick
BeforeRick and Morty’s season 5 finale aired in 2021, the show’s creators released a promo that teased a fictional live-action version of the series.Back to the Futureseries star Christopher Lloyd played the live-action Rick, while Jaeden Martell ofItandY2Kfame played his long-suffering sidekick Morty.The promotional videos featuring Christopher Lloyd offered the best possible live-action take onRick and Morty, both because of their ingenious premise and their merciful brevity.
Viewers had wanted to see a live-action version ofRick and Morty for years, and casting Lloyd as Rick was an ingeniously clever bit of meta-humor. After all, disgraced series co-creator Justin Roiland originally based Rick and Morty on Doc and Marty from theBack to the Futuremovies, so it was a full circle moment to have Lloyd play the character. However, outside this neat casting gag, the premise of a live-actionRick and Mortydoesn’t have as much potential as it appears to.
The show’s plentiful comedic gore and gross-out moments could easily cross the line into unpleasant grotesquerie if translated from its cartoon world into live-action reality.
This was evident from the promos, as the show’s anarchic humor doesn’t translate well to the limitations of live-action. Some ofRick and Morty’s best episodesare based on premises, like a literal plot device or a talking pickle, that come to life in animation but could easily look cheap, bizarre, or plain off-putting in live-action. Not only that, but the show’s plentiful comedic gore and gross-out moments could easily cross the line into unpleasant grotesquerie if translated from its cartoon world into live-action reality.
A Full Rick And Morty Episode Or Movie In Live-Action Would Never Work
Rick and Morty Really Relies On The Medium of Animation
Despite how fun these promos were as self-contained comedy skits,a live-actionRick and Moryy movie would be a terrible idea. Seeing actual teenagers playing Morty and Summer would make the situations that the characters end up in seem far more inappropriate, and the general level of chaotic violence in the series would seem darker and more brutal in live-action. The live-action format would also mean thatRick and Mortywould need to spend a lot of money on practical effects and CGI to create convincing alien creatures, mutants, monsters, and other assorted supporting cast members.
Rick & Morty’s Season 7 Ending Means Season 8 Can’t Return To Normal
Rick and Morty season 8 can’t simply return to its comfortable routine after season 7’s ending, but this is secretly a good thing for the series.
In theRick and Mortyseason 7 premierealone, Rick hung out with the small yellow alien humanoid Mr. Poopybutthole, the talking cat alien Squanchy, the aptly named Birdperson, a Predator, Hugh Jackman, and a robot/human hybrid named Gearhead. It is tough to imagine how, even with an unlimited budget,Rick and Morty’s live-action movie would bring all these characters to life in a way that does justice to their original cartoon designs. Put simply, the inherent cartoonishness ofRick and Mortymakes it ill-suited to a long-form live-action adaptation.
The Rick And Morty Movie Will Happen Eventually, Just Not In Live-Action
Rick and Morty’s Movie Shouldn’t Be Live-Action For The Sake Of Budget And Tone
Judging by Harmon’s comments,it is only a matter of time before theRick and Mortymovie happens. Considering how successful episodes likeRick and Morty’s “The Vat of Acid Episode”and “Pickle Rick” were at taking a seemingly simple premise and turning it into something surprisingly profound, I have no doubt that the show’s long-awaited jump to the big screen will be worth all the delays. Clearly, the creative team isn’t pursuing a movie before they have a story that is worth changing formats for.
I don’t think thatRick and Morty’s movie would benefit from switching to live-action as there are precious few traditional 2D animated movies being released in cinemas.
That said, not everything necessarily needs to change for the spinoff. I don’t think thatRick and Morty’s movie would benefit from switching to live-action, as there are precious few traditional 2D animated movies being released in cinemas, and even fewer that become major studio hits. As such,Rick and Morty’s movie should help to bring back this dying art form by eschewing live-action in favor of the medium that allowed the show to thrive and build its fan base in the first place.
