WhileRick and Morty’s second spinoff wasn’t unwatchable, the new show did prove that the series struggles to add more titles to its franchise.Rick and Mortyis incredibly successful. Since the anarchic sci-fi comedy debuted in 2013,Rick and Mortyhas gone from being a small series on Adult Swim to a legitimate pop culture juggernaut.Rick and Mortygained a massive fan base and enjoys considerable critical acclaim, with even the show’s lesser outings earning largely stellar reviews.Rick and Morty’s season 7 finale wasits highest-rated episode in years, proving the show remains on top.
Rick and Morty Season 7 Bringing Back Birdperson Made One Classic Episode Even Better
Rick and Morty season 7’s Birdperson comeback subverted viewer expectations in episode’s best gags while simultaneously fleshing out Rick’s character.
However, beforeRick and Mortyseason 8arrives, the show has one recurring problem that it needs to iron out. Namely, Rick and Mortycan’t seem to branch out beyond the franchise’s original flagship series. Any time the titular duo appears in another project, the responses range from disinterred to actively hostile.Rick and Morty’sSpace Jam 2cameo was so ill-advised that the heroes went on to kill off the versions of themselves that made the appearance.Rick and Morty’s first spinoff, 2022’sThe Vindicators, barely earned any attention from reviewers and fans when it arrived online.
Rick and Morty: The Anime’s Failure Proves Rick and Morty Spinoffs Don’t Work
2022’s Vindicators Spinoff Also Failed To Wow Fans
However, it is 2024’sRick and Morty: The Animethat proves this is a real problem and not just a coincidence.Rick and Morty: The Anime’s disastrous reception provesRick and Mortyspinoffs don’t worktwo years afterThe Vindicatorsarrived to little fanfare.The Vindicatorswas mostly ignored upon release, whereasRick and Morty: The Animewas met with critical opprobrium. However, both projects failed equally in their attempts to expand the world of the series and get viewers excited about more additions to theRick and Mortyuniverse. The show’s only spinoffs to date both flopped badly.
AlthoughRick and Morty’s 2024 disappointmentconfirmed that the show’s main characters don’t work in a new medium,The Vindicatorsproved thatRick and Morty’s unique sense of humor doesn’t translate to other characters.Rick and Morty: The Animeshared the show’s original main characters, but brought them to life in a bold new style that failed to win over existing viewers. Meanwhile,The Vindicatorswas animated in the same style as the original show but focused on a team of troubled superheroes who only put in a few minor appearances in the series. Both shows failed as spinoffs.
Rick & Morty’s Two Spinoffs Tried Opposite Approaches - And Both Still Failed
Vindicators And Rick and Morty: The Anime Couldn’t Outdo The Original Formula
The Vindicatorswas a radical departure from the tone ofRick and Mortydespite sharing the show’s trademark visual style. The characters looked like they belonged in the world ofRick and Morty, but their stories were maudlin, downbeat, and self-indulgent. Despite each episode lasting only a minute or two,The Vindicatorsstill dragged due to its lack of jokes. The series might have been parodying self-serious superhero media, but the joke wasn’t strong enough to sustain a series of shorts that ultimately went nowhere. The biggest issue was that, visuals aside,The Vindicatorsfelt nothing likeRick and Morty.
Rick and Morty: The Animehas an IMDb rating of 2.7, whileRick and Morty’s IMDb rating is 9.1.
In contrast,Rick and Morty: The Animetook the opposite approach. The series might be set in an alternate version of the original show’s reality, but it may as well be the same one.Rick and Morty’s spinoff broke the rulesof the original show by focusing on time travel in its first episode, but even this was somethingRick and Mortyattempted years earlier. UnlikeThe Vindicators,Rick and Morty: The Animedidn’t diverge far enough from its inspiration. Instead,Rick and Morty’s second spinoff was far too similar to its predecessor.
Rick and Morty: The Anime showed that giving the show a fresh new visual style wasn’t enough to sustain an entire spinoff.
Rick and Morty’s two spinoffs took opposite approaches to expanding the show’s world, but both still failed.The Vindicatorsproved that the characters ofRick and Mortyweren’t particularly appealing unless their stories involved the Smith family, as it turned out this crew of troubled superheroes wasn’t all that interesting. Meanwhile,Rick and Morty: The Animeshowed that giving the show a fresh new visual style wasn’t enough to sustain an entire spinoff. Instead, the series ended up feeling like an uncanny knockoff of the original show, with flashes ofRick and Morty’s charm amid long stretches of mere imitation.
Rick and Morty’s Failed Spinoffs Highlight A Big Issue For The Franchise’s Future
Rick and Morty Hasn’t Expanded As A Franchise
To be fair to the creator of the show,Rick and Morty’stie-in comics are inarguably a successful spinoff for the franchise. However, these hardly count since they are in another medium, and they are structured like normal episodes of the show. This means they serve a different market, unlike a spinoff show, and can act as an extension of the existing series. FromYoung SheldontoFrasier, every successful spinoff series needs to eventually differentiate itself from its predecessor. NeitherThe VindicatorsnorRick and Morty: The Animecould quite manage this, resulting in their unimpressive receptions.
This isn’t necessarily a problem forRick and Mortyyet. After all, the show hasn’t even aired its eighth season andRick and Mortyhas been renewed until its tenth outing.Rick and Mortydoesn’t even have Halloween episodes, so it is not like the show itself will be running out of ideas to explore any time soon. However,Rick and Morty’s failed spinoffs prove that the franchise may struggle to adapt if the series ever does end.Rick and Mortymight end up likeThe Simpsons,Family Guy, orSouth Park, continuing indefinitely thanks to fan demand.
Family Guy’s spinoff The Cleveland Show lasted an impressive four seasons, which is far more than The Vindicators or Rick and Morty: The Anime look likely to achieve.
However, those shows don’t have as many failed spinoffs asRick and Morty.Family Guy’s spinoffThe Cleveland Showlasted an impressive four seasons, which is far more thanThe VindicatorsorRick and Morty: The Animelook likely to achieve.The SimpsonsandSouth Parkhave no spinoffs to date, so their batting averages remain better thanRick and Morty’s troubling display. WhileThe VindicatorsandRick and Morty: The Animewere both intended to makeRick and Morty’s cultural reach even bigger, the spinoffs instead highlighted its limits.Rick and Mortyremains beloved, but the show has nowhere to go.
