If there's one thing Rick and Morty loves, it's unorthodox crossover promotions.
The Adult Swim series has done a number of unexpected ads for a variety of media.
They generally consist of the titular characters not taking the promotion seriously and going
off on a tangent that makes you, the viewer, question why whatever company they're promoting
thought the ad would be a good idea.
Like, for example, the Rick and Morty ad for Alien: Covenant, which devolved into an argument
between Rick and Morty about, uhh… drinking drugs.
"You know, I never thought I'd say this, but thank God you drink all those drugs and alcohol,
y'know?"
"Morty, you don't drink drugs."
"Well, whatever.
I don't know.
I'm innocent."
Still, the ads must provide some kind of good buzz, because a new, bizarre mashup has arrived:
Rick and Morty meets Death Stranding.
In the 30-second spot, Rick and Morty are seen walking through an animated version of
the landscape of Death Stranding, the highly-anticipated PS4 game developed by Kojima Productions.
Rick looks like his normal self, while Morty is dressed like the protagonist from the soon-to-be-released
game — Norman Reedus' Sam Porter Bridges – complete with a floating baby in a tank
on his chest.
Yeah, it's a weird game.
Rick remarks that Hideo Kojima — the writer, director, designer, and producer of Death
Stranding – has enlisted their help to try to repair the game's dystopian world.
"What are these ghosts?"
"Uh, those are the Death Stranding, Rick."
"Oh, OK, yeah…
I wasn't paying attention."
Eventually, the duo's attention turns to the baby as they try and decipher its purpose.
Is it an upgrade?
Some sort of health potion?
In the end, they decide to take the only logical action:
"Let's eat it!"
"We can't eat it.
It's a baby."
"Morty, what if it makes us run faster or jump higher?"
".......OK, let's eat the baby."
Yeah, it's a seriously twisted ad for an equally bonkers kind of video game.
At first glance, a Rick and Morty and Death Stranding crossover may feel like an odd match.
After all, one is an animated comedy series that doesn't take itself too seriously while
the other is a dramatic video game that takes itself extremely seriously.
But when you think about it, these two properties actually go together pretty well — and not
just because of their sci-fi connections.
Rather, it's because they're both really weird.
Rick and Morty is pretty mainstream.
It's probably the most popular Adult Swim series ever, and it has one of the most dedicated
fanbases of any show currently on television.
Every time a new Rick and Morty season is announced, it's basically treated like an
event, and few other shows can match the excitement it generates.
With the series' popularity, it's easy to forget just how strange Rick and Morty is.
This is a show that has turned its protagonist into a pickle, featured a character named
Mr. Poopybutthole, and woven a complex serialized narrative that involves a multiverse and lots
of nonsensical — but strangely believable — sci-fi jargon.
Pretty much the only current, mainstream piece of entertainment that surpasses Rick and Morty
in weirdness is Death Stranding.
Seemingly no one can adequately describe what the game is about – its ludicrously complex
story involves a post-apocalyptic America, invisible ghosts, babies in jars that can
spot said ghosts, and a delivery man who will somehow save the world.
Plus, Conan O'Brien's in it?
Honestly, it sounds like a Rick and Morty episode.
"That hood was threaded by the hand of my cosplay partner.
Wear it, and you too can ride the river rapids without fear."
As with any new piece of content that involves Rick and Morty, the new Death Stranding ad
serves as a reminder that the long-anticipated fourth season of Rick and Morty is just around
the corner.
The upcoming season was confirmed in May 2018, when Adult Swim announced that an additional
70 episodes of the series had been ordered — likely consisting of seven 10-episode
seasons.
It was another year before it was announced when Rick and Morty season 4 would debut,
with the timeframe of November 2019 given.
Then in October 2019, the season's first full trailer finally arrived... and revealed that
only five episodes were ready to go starting in November, with no date given for when the
second half of season 4 might premiere.
Now, those first five episodes are nearly here, and fans will undoubtedly be happy to
take what they can get.
The season's first episode, titled "Edge of Tomorty: Rick Die Rickpeat," is set to debut
on Sunday, November 10.
The episode's title is a play on the Tom Cruise action film Edge of Tomorrow: Live, Die, Repeat,
meaning it's possible the series may parody the film as it parodied Mad Max in season
3's "Rickmancing the Stone."
Or maybe the episode will parody a movie that's nothing like Edge of Tomorrow, since "Rickmancing
the Stone" had nothing to do with the film Romancing the Stone.
Who knows!
All we can say for sure about Rick and Morty season 4 is that we'll be able to watch it
very soon.
"Lab coat, rip off Doctor Strange."
Meanwhile, those interested in picking up Death Stranding can do so when the game launches
just ahead of Rick and Morty season 4 on Friday, November 8.
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