Editor’s Note: please note there are minor spoilers for season three’s premiere in this post — you’ve been warned!
Wubba lubba dub dub—season :burp: three is almost here! With all of time and space and every multiverse at their fingertips, it’s no wonder the Rick and Morty season 3 trailer feels so bonkers and chockablock with insight into what’s to come in this next installment of our adventures in the Rickstaverse.
Let’s get into it with the top 7 things you may have missed:
And, in case you want an easier to digest, written down take, we did a bit more exhaustive detective work on our own, below:
Last night the show’s creators Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon held a ridiculous two hour live-streaming event that was as silly as you’d imagine, and that included the release of the trailer for the long awaited new season (July 30th!). So here’s a full breakdown of everything we found in it, what it all might mean, and what we are most excited. (Warning: spoilers are on the other side of this portal, especially if you haven’t seen season three’s first episode yet.)
SCENES FROM THE PREMIERE
Even though the start of season three is still technically a month away, the first episode, “The Rickshank Redemption,” was streamed on Adult Swim‘s website on April Fool’s Day. (Make sure you read Kristy Puchko’s great breakdown of the episode.)
So we know what images in the trailer belong to that episode. That includes Seal Team Rick breaking into the Galactic Federation. (“Our” Rick had turned himself into the authorities at the end of season two.)
As well as Rick’s attack on the Council of Ricks, who had taken Summer and Morty hostage.
This shot of them being threatened by a robot also comes from this episode (but this is back on Galactic Federation-controlled Earth).
As does these scene of them holding one of Rick’s portal guns.
We even see (a finally employed) Jerry in his Galactic Federation uniform, though things begin to go haywire at work.
If you haven’t seen this episode yet, go find it. A month is way too long to wait for it.
JERRY DOES GET AN ADVENTURE WITH RICK (MAYBE)
Whether or not Jerry and Beth will remain together is one of the longest running gags on the show, but the season three premiere ends on the couple’s lowest note, with Beth saying they are getting a divorce. Rick then tells Morty that while the pair are still going on adventures, and that they will sometimes include Summer and Beth, Jerry won’t be going with them anymore because he crossed Rick.
But these images show a very scared Jerry on a strange planet in Rick’s ship. (Remember those swamp-like vapors.)
Those trees seem to come from this landscape shot, showing a city safely domed from the wild forest surrounding it.
Which makes sense, since this monster living there seems to be attacking Jerry.
This isn’t the only time we see Jerry though, indicating that maybe he and Beth won’t really split up (or even if they do Jerry will still be prominently involved). The trailer shows him and (maybe) Rick on an alien roller coaster.
Note the Iron Man-like hole in Rick’s chest. It pops up again later, on a very different looking Rick…
It’s Cyborg Rick! So is Jerry kidnapped by a fake Rick? Been pawned off by the real one to keep him occupied? Or has Rick been severely injured and had to make some modifications to survive? That’s possible, since he does turn himself into a pickle at some point in season three.
PICKLE RICK!
The goofiest idea from the trailer is the opening one, where Rick has turned himself into an actual pickle.
And there’s quite a lot of Pickle Rick in the trailer. We see he eventually he, uh, gains (?) real arms and legs and a partial skeleton, creating a pretty freaky look.
He then uses those appendages to fight rats.
He also gets into a battle with some Matrix like agents.
Unlike his fist fight with the rats (which his legs seem to resemble there), for them he uses a more Rick-like approach.
This shot made us laugh out loud.
And receive it they did.
Why do this? Our best guess is that its to make himself totally incognito (he is not only the universe’s smartest and most dangerous man, he is also its most wanted after all).
Although, we don’t know how easy it is to hide when you turn into a Rocket Raccoon, pickle hybrid.
MAD RICK: FURY SUMMER
One of the clearest episode stories evident in the trailer looks to be a Mad Max: Fury Road parody, which is basically all we need in life. Especially because it also involves a cannibalistic dystopian diner. Look at the arm cooking on the spit.
Taking on the role of Furiosa will be Summer, who comes across an Immortan Joe-like figure.
Who she ruthlessly executes.
After that a shocked Rick reiterates what he told Morty at the end of the season’s first episode, that this is their darkest year yet.
We’d be okay with this story arc being a two-parter.
 RICK AND MORTY: JUSTICE AVENGERS
At some point Rick and Morty branch out and join up with what looks to be some sort of superhero team (that’s very in these days).
You can’t see Rick in that image, but he is in the next one, when a giant, dead looking monster swings by them on a meat hook.
Morty looks shocked, but as usual Rick looks nonplussed. It’s unlike the duo to seek help from others, but when you’re in what seems like some sort of Hellish local, it’s nice to have strength in numbers.
 SUMMER AND CYBORG SUMMER
Rick isn’t the only character who gets a cyborg version this season, as we see regular Summer—decked out in some fancy technical gear and on the attack—teaming up with a much buffer, cyborg version of herself.
Why is Rick talking to a Gromflomite? They are bureaucrats and he hates them, especially since they controlled the Galactic Federation, who had just imprisoned Rick and tried to melt his brain.
The Galactic Federation looks to have completely crumbled at the end of the premiere. Could Rick be looking to fill the vacuum created (by him) with the collapse of the government? The two Summers would seem to point to Rick either being in some danger, or (more likely) part of a master plan by Rick to execute a surprise attack.
RICK AND MORTY FIGHT (GREEN) RICK AND MORTY
Both Rick and Morty fight what look like nega versions of themselves (think the end of Scott Pilgrim). Which includes the two Mortys (Mortii?) crashing Rick’s ship into the house.
But this might not be as clear cut as it seems. In fact, based on Summer’s complete lack of a response to Rick being thrown through a glass door, they might not even be visible to anyone else.
A closer look makes it seem like the green versions of them aren’t actually the “bad guys” here. The trailer’s final scenes show Rick and Morty in danger in a green swamp under attack by monsters.
Note the melted nature of their skin.
In the spaceship fight of the two Mortys, green Morty looks to have that same melted look, so this could all be from the same episode. With all of the green swamp vapors and horrible monsters, it is also possible the earlier shot of Jerry screaming in the ship might take place on this world.
NO IDEA, BUT IT ALL LOOKS AWESOME
This trailer is actually great at not giving away too many secrets (unlike every other stupid trailer we get nowadays), but there are still some great, intriguing glimpses of what’s to come.
Creepy. We love it.
Beth and Morty have to use this “Morphizer” machine to “normalize” Summer, who gets turned into a garage destroying giant.
It’s notable that Rick isn’t around to fix this problem himself. But could this be the machine he used to turn himself into a pickle?
That’s some bleak, horror movie stuff right there (maybe the most interesting shot from the whole trailer).
This exchange, about not answering a literal call to adventure, felt like it was part of a cold open.
Fianlly, even this promo shot, which is unlikely to appear in the actual season (maybe the opening credits), shows that Beth is still desperate to keep her father by her side.
Because even if this is going to be the darkest season yet, there’s still going to be some love.
But what do you think? What did you make of this trailer? What did we miss? Use your prtal gun to head to our comments section below.
Images: Adult Swim
