When will Rick and Morty return? Season 7 release date schedule prediction & more

Fans who are wondering as to when Rick and Morty season 7 would return will be delighted to know that the timeframe for the release date has been confirmed to be somewhat in the middle of this year.

The season 6 finale episode, titled Rickitional Mortpoon's Rickmas Mortcation, saw Rick give Morty and the Smith family a gift from every part of the multiverse. Aside from season 6 episode 1, this was the only episode to feature the character taking a trip across the multiverse.

However, this trip takes place off-screen and the episode is mostly set to be on the Earth, which fans explored for the entire sixth season.

Season 6 also featured a bombshell reveal that Rick, who was kind to Morty and the Smith family for the whole of the season, was in reality a robot. Aside from this, another key event that took place was Morty receiving a lightsaber from Rick, who had gotten the weapon from the multiverse.

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Co-creator and voice actor of Rick and Morty, Justin Roiland, will not be returning in season 7

Rick and Morty season 7 will reportedly drop on Adult Swim mid-2023 (Image via Adult Swim)

Rick and Morty's seventh season will premiere in mid-2023, which should be between June and August.

Justin Roiland, co-creator and voice actor for both Rick and Morty till now, will not be returning to the show as Adult Swim, the programming block that broadcasts all episodes of the beloved show, confirmed on January 25 that they have severed ties with the actor in light of him facing allegations of domestic abuse.

As such, the titular roles will be recast, though it is currently unconfirmed as to who will take over their voices. Meanwhile, fans have been clamoring for actor Chris Pratt to take over the voice roles, given his popularity in the community, thanks to his performances in both the Lego Movie movies and Onward.

As for the plot of the upcoming seventh season, Rick teases viewers when he told Morty this at the conclusion of the finale episode of season 6:

"Rick and Morty season seven. Pursuing my adversary"

Stating that not every episode would be doing this, he added:

"Not every episode, Morty, but maybe striving to stay healthy while doing it, juggling plates – it could all be going on in the background. The future?"

This teases that Rick's alternate evil self, "Weird Rick," who killed his wife Diane, will serve as the main antagonist of the upcoming season. Fans can also expect to see more story canon links thanks to the showrunners giving into significant demands for more continuity in the previous season.

In regards to season 7, Dan Harmon, co-creator of the show, revealed to The Wrap that subsequent seasons would now be released on an annual basis. He expressed his surprise at the delays Rick and Morty fans have become used to:

"This is the strangest thing I’ve ever said about the show and it still feels unreal to say it, but we’ll be doing a season a year now. I still don’t understand how that’s possible."

He added:

"But that’s why it never happened on my watch. [Showrunner] Scott [Marder] is able to keep us on a schedule that mostly involves being so ahead of schedule that we can actually release things in a timely manner."

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For the returning main cast, viewers can expect the following except Justin Roiland to return:

• Chris Parnell as Jerry Smith, Rick's son in-law and Morty's father
• Spencer Graham as Summer Smith, Rick's granddaughter and Morty's sister.
• Sarah Chalke as Beth Smith (nee Sanchez), Rick's daughter and Morty's mother.

Additionally, Susan Sarandon will reprise her role as Dr. Wong in the seventh season.

As of now, there is no trailer footage for Rick and Morty's seventh season, but a delayed release can be expected, however, as the titular character's roles need to be recast following Roiland's ousting from the show.