The Next ‘Rick and Morty’ Episode Is Taking Direct Shots at Warner Bros. Discovery

In the 11-year history of Rick and Morty, there has never been a higher chance of Rick Sanchez saying the words “Snyder Cut” than there is right now.

Back in the controversial episode “The Last Temptation of Jerry” earlier this season, Rick and Morty made the bold move to call out the much-maligned Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav by name, joking that Rick is hesitant to even utter the words “climate change” because “I don’t know how Zaslav voted.” Under Zaslav’s reign, the WBD media empire, which, critically, includes Adult Swim and all the shows on it, has developed a reputation for curtailing its cartoon output while pushing franchisable action schlock on subscribers and moviegoers, all while the comic book nerds who watch Rick and Morty religiously complain about the state of the D.C. cinematic universe and the creatives who control its future.

In the newly released cold open from this Sunday’s new episode of Rick and Morty, the presumably meta “Ricker Than Fiction,” the series made jabs at the state of unending action film franchises, James Gunn, Warner Bros., fanboy culture and, arguably, Barenaked Ladies, all in just 93 seconds:

On the eve of Warner Bros. releasing their $225 million, James-Gunn-directed, umpteenth attempt at returning the Superman film franchise to the heights of its Christopher Reeve era, Dan Harmon and his writers are taking on both their boss’ boss’ boss and all of nerddom with a slam on super hero cinema and the culture that surrounds it. Considering the fact that “Ricker Than Fiction” is the episode that we believed would mark the return of the “Interdimenional Cable” series to the Rick and Morty universe, this critique on tired retreads couldn’t be more timely.

Invariably, a Rick and Morty episode centered around complaining about an action-sci-fi series struggling to maintain the quality of its earlier entries will include some subtle and hilariously un-subtle jokes about the Rick and Morty fandom’s complaints in recent years as the show inches toward its goal of “100 Years Rick and Morty.” For all the f-yous that the cold open lobbed at the nerd entertainment industry, the greatest middle-finger of “Ricker Than Fiction” may be flashed at the Rick and Morty fandom themselves, the most vocal of whom have definitely typed out the words “This used to be my favorite franchise!” and “I want to talk to the manager!” in numerous Reddit threads about how modern Rick and Morty isn’t as good as it was in Season One.

Also, there is a non-zero chance that this episode actually ends up featuring a likeness of Zaslav himself, hopefully one that shoots lasers out of his hands like he’s the Pope.