Posted in: Adult Swim, TV | Tagged: rick and morty

Rick and Morty Season 9 Premiere Clip: Who's Rick (Not) Texting?

With Adult Swim's Rick and Morty Season 9 set to debut this Sunday, here's a sneak peek at S09E01: "There's Something About Morty."

Though the television season may be coming to an end, Adult Swim's Rick and Morty isn't wasting any time kicking the summer season into high gear. With the Emmy Award-winning series set to return for its ninth season this Sunday, May 24th, we've got a sneak peek at what's ahead with S09E01: "There's Something About Morty." In the clip below, things are… flowing pretty nicely with the family?!? Yup. Beth and Jerry are getting the new pool ready, Summer's dropping selfies on social media, and Morty's enjoying what 7-Eleven has to offer (Slurpees rule, btw). But things get a little shady when Morty checks in with Rick. It's not what he's working on that's the issue; it's that he's being really suspicious about whether he's been texting someone. We're guessing that he has…

Here's an early preview for this weekend's return of Adult Swim's Rick and Morty, followed by what else we've learned about the upcoming ninth season:

Rick and Morty: The Movie? Yup…

Based on what co-creator Dan Harmon and showrunner Scott Marder shared with CinemaBlend during an interview in support of the ninth season of the Emmy Award-winning Adult Swim animated series, Rick and Morty vet Jacob Hair is helming a feature film. "We saw the same leak, and we are therefore, now able to confirm that there is a movie in the works. Jacob Hair is, is the director. I mean, we didn't shop around. He is an absolute, to say rock star is honestly feels like trivializing it because that implies like some kind of flash in the pan, kind of exciting. I mean, Jacob has it like came onto our team. It was like adding a pillar to it," Harmon shared.

Marder pointed to the upcoming season as proof of why Hair was the right choice, adding, "He's our supervising director. I mean, if [Season] 9 feels good to you, he's got a hand. He is responsible for that." Harmon continued, "I think when we started talking about a movie and could a movie happen and who would direct it, the first question was, 'Can Jacob do it?' Because that would be a dream, as opposed to going out and just getting somebody that did a great job on another animated thing. This is our guy, who has done some of the most amazing work on the show. It's like the director version of Donald Glover in that I don't know if there's a limitation to what he can do; we haven't found it yet." It isn't clear of the animated film would be a theatrical release or streaming.

And here's a look back at the original official trailer, as well as this season's opening credits. Following that? Well, let's just say that we have a lot more to pass along about what's ahead with the ninth season of Adult Swim's Rick and Morty:

Here's a look back at the latest look at Adult Swim's Rick and Morty Season 9, followed by what else we've learned about the animated series's return:

Previously, we were treated to looks at some production art for Season 9 – beginning with character designs for Wrestler Rick, Summer (sporting a medal and dressed like she's competing in the Olympics), TV Head Morty, Business Jerry, Crazy Randy, Reese, and Seb. From there, we have a dozen background/setting images – including a bowling alley, a glowing "Tree of Life"-like valley, an abandoned cabin in the woods with a station wagon outside, and more (with what seems like several looks at what appears to be a combination of Feudal Japan and a brewery town):

On the same day that the Season 9 episode titles went live, Dan Harmon, Spencer Grammer, Sarah Chalke, Ian Cardoni, and Harry Belden chose to make things personal – well, "personal" in that they got together to offer their form of "performance art" as they rolled off the episode titles:

Speaking of episode titles, here is a set of screencaps that offers a rundown of the ninth season's chapters, followed by the announcement video that was released earlier this month:

Rick and Morty Season 9: Rick and Morty is back, baby! Season Nine is all certified bangers. No AI slop! Just Grade A organic slop, made by real humans with real human traits like back hair and cysts. Please watch, or we'll have neglected our families for nothing. Now, here's an updated look at the sneak peeks/preview clips released (with the latest clips at the end):

And here's a look at the image gallery that was released alongside the news that the Emmy Award-winning animated series would be returning in May, followed by a previous Season 9 sneak peek and some insights on the ninth season (and beyond) from the show's team:

In this previously released sneak peek clip from the ninth season, Principal Vagina calls in Beth and Jerry to meet with him about what Morty and Summer have been up to. First observation? Morty and Summer have zero respect for Vagina. After Vagina offers a laundry list of things that the sublings have done, he announces that they are being expelled. When Beth tries to get some answers, Summer mutes her, Jerry, and Vagina's "Boomer Frequency." Soon, Rick appears in farming gear and uses a hoe to turn Vagina into a carrot. Horrified by the experience, Vagina unexpels them and promises them all "A's" – and that's when Beth rips into Rick for making Morty and Summer into "spoiled assholes." After Morty pulls a move on him, Rick is convinced that Morty and Summer need to be sent away to a sleepaway camp that takes care of spoiled kids.

Rick and Morty Showrunner, EP Offer Series Updates

Back in September 2025, Showrunner/EP Scott Marder and EP Steve Levy took part in a Reddit AMA, offering the latest updates on how things were looking with Season 9 and beyond, while also dropping some clues to what's to come. In terms of the animated series' future, Levy shared that they "have season 9 in post, 10 in production, and 11 writing, so we are a lot further along than you think." Marder believes Season 8 will be hitting Adult Swim in Fall 2026. When asked if they believe the series will get a 13th season, Levy shared, "I believe we will," while Marder responded, "The lease on my Mazda Miata certainly hopes so!"

When asked to apply the Harmontown "Olives" rating (5 olives being bad, one olive being good), Levy responded, "Season 9 is 1 Olive and 10 is 0 Olives. Actually, that's tough. I could go either way with those seasons. They are both some of our best work." For those who think the Emmy Award-winning series has lost its edge, Marder teased that Season 9 should take care of that: "I would say Season 9 will convince everyone we've got a full tank of gas left in us." Later in the AMA, Marder would add, "The episode ideas are still REALLY flowing, and Rick still has plenty of mean left in him."

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