Rick And Morty: 10 Sci-Fi Film Spoofs We'd Love To See
Adult Swim's Rick and Morty is rich with parodies related to various movies, shows, and general pop culture references. This is particularly the case when it comes to action romps and sci-fi films. Part of the charm of Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon's creative cartoon is its knack for toying with and poking fun at the concepts and premises of these films, while adding their own zany spin.
These can range from one-off gags to subtle easter eggs to full-blown episodic spoofs. Regardless of the means of delivery, this sci-fi satire makes for some funny and entertaining moments. Still, fans can't help but feel there's still tons of untapped potential, given the huge palette of epic and often cheesy sci-fi.
10 Ghostbusters
Considering this supernatural sci-fi from Harold Ramis already holds a comic bent, it would surely translate well into a Rick and Morty spoof. Perhaps fans could see the Smith family or rick and his pals together busting ghosts - or whatever other twisted paranormal entity the creative weirdness of Harmon and Roiland can conjure.
Maybe they could even take the form of the memory-altering parasites, who make their long-awaited return only to find themselves hunted by Memory Parasite Exterminators...
9 Source Code
In this cerebral thriller, audiences follow a pilot (Jake Gyllenhaal) travel through simulated memories as he attempts to retrace the events of a terrorist bombing by piecing together clues on a train. This is one of those endlessly mind-bending flicks, with a premise and settings residing in an ethereal plain between memories, dreams, and computer simulations.
With such twisted concepts, Source Code would no doubt serve as a solid foundation for a trippy Rick and Morty adventure. Much like "Lawnmower Dog" paralleled Inception, a future episode could see the series' heroes on a train to oblivion as they try to crack a case perpetrated by some rogue Ricks or galactic terrorists.
8 The Hunger Games
Aside from a brief season 3 nod from Summer, asking what the deal was with "Hunger Games Summer," fans haven't seen much in the way of satire based on this prominent dystopian sci-fi.
Given the show's action sensibilities and slew of colorful, distinct characters, the potential for an amusing spoof is certainly there. Perhaps the series' heroes find themselves on a planet with an oppressive regime who holds contests similar to The Hunger Games, and Rick has to rely on his scientific savvy to rustle up some weaponry.
7 Ready Player One
Ready Player One, based on the Ernest Cline novel, is a celebration of 80s geek culture as much as it's a movie.
It centers around a boy seeking to unearth virtual easter eggs and knock off a series of challenges to obtain prominence in a massive simulated world, the OASIS. Described as a fusion of The Matrix and Willy Wonka, Ready Player One would certainly make for a thrilling, off-the-wall ride for Rick and his grandson.
Seeing as the movie is already a hodgepodge of pop culture references, it would fit the Rick and Morty formula like a haptic glove. Harmon and Roiland could position it as an episodic parody of the film sprinkled with bite-sized parodies of other content.
6 Face/Off
Let's "face" it - even some action movie buffs are likely to admit this John Woo picture, for all its fun moments, feels downright silly, and even self-parodying at times. With the over-the-top performances of John Travolta and Nicolas Cage, and a farfetched premise of face-swapping, Face/Off should be terrific fodder for Rick and Morty satire.
One can just imagine the potential of Rick swapping identities with, say, the assassin Krombopulos Michael, or a Morty and Evil Morty switcheroo.
5 Waterworld
Speaking of cheesy action films - this post-apocalyptic epic, starring Kevin Costner, should serve as a solid foundation for a fun Rick and Morty premise. Imagine something akin to the Mad Max satire, "Rickmancing the Stone," and swap out the deserts and trucks with pirate ships and vast oceans, and voila!
Maybe fans can see Rick concoct some synthetic gills to adapt to this water-laden world, only to find the populace begins gunning for him for obtaining these alien features. His portal gun could be accidentally dropped, plummeting to the bottom of the ocean and forcing Morty and himself to get by and survive on the hostile water world.
4 Maximum Overdrive
A good parody can stem from both enjoyable, well-crafted films, as well as silly ones. Stephen King's Maximum Overdrive definitely steers in the direction of the latter. A film revolving around living, hostile machines and gadgets could be utilized pretty effectively by the showrunners. With Rick and Morty's slew of devices and tech, ranging from Plumbuses to Portal Guns, the concept of evil, possessed objects is one with infinite possibilities.
The source of these happenings - an alien comet in the film - could be traced to remnants of the Galactic Federation seeking revenge on Rick for toppling their government, or even the ominous Evil Morty.
3 Signs
Episodes centered around alien beings and societies often prove to be the most memorable and funny. Just look at hits like "M. Night Shaym-Aliens!" and "Auto Erotic Assimilation." Surely an episode rolling with the twist-laden plot of Shyamalan's Signs would make for an amusing romp. And with the array of alien species already introduced in the show, there's no shortage of options to choose from.
Sure, Scary Movie 3 might have already explored this frontier many years ago. Still, there's no reason to believe the creativity and wackiness of Roiland and Harmon couldn't go in their own crazy, mind-bending direction with it.
One can imagine entertaining scene reenactments like Morty wailing on an alien with a baseball bat in a rage.
2 The Platform
This Spanish-made thriller hits its mark when it comes to its heavy, clever societal metaphors and symbolism. It features a vast chasm of a jail, where prisoners sit at varying heights and await plates of food being lowered to them. As you'd expect, the lower rungs of this dark prison society have to literally settle for scraps, making them increasingly mad and radicalized.
They say to strike while the iron's hot, and now would be a great time to capitalize on this breakout hit from director Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia.
As fans have seen in the epic season 3 debut of Rick and Morty, Rick's already had some experience in galactic prison, and it'd be amusing to see how he and Morty could get themselves out of a jam like this glum thriller presents.
1 Robocop
This popcorn action film, directed by Paul Verhoeven, would surely translate to the zany Rick and Morty universe, with its thrilling action and campy, borderline comedic moments. Seeing Morty sporting a Robocop-tinged version of his armored suit from "Look Who's Purging Now" and lose it on criminals could be a funny sight to behold.
Maybe fans can even see a battered Jerry be rebuilt and fall into a new gig as a crime-fighting robocop spouting cringy one-liners.