Live action Rick and Morty with Christopher Lloyd tease could be in season finale

live action Rick and Morty: Christopher Lloyd as Rick, Jaeden Martell as Morty
(Image credit: AdultSwim/Twitter)

Who ordered a live action Rick and Morty? If you also asked the AdultSwim gods for the perfect casting, you're in luck. Because it turns out the man (or maybe character) who inspired Rick Sanchez will actually play him.

But when you consider this clip alongside the season 5 finale preview, you start to wonder if Christopher Lloyd's going to be on Rick and Morty this Sunday. No time to waste, we'll explain below.

AdultSwim today (Sept. 3) tweeted out the evidence: a 14-second long clip you can watch below where Rick and Morty fans will recognize the mad scientist's garage, where one of those green portals he loves to hop through just happens to open up.

And out step Christopher Lloyd in a baggy lab coat and bright blue shirt, to say "Morty," then belch, and then say "we’re home." Right next to Lloyd is Jaeden Martell (according to GamesRadar) playing Morty, who says the only words he could say:  "aw Jeez," while rubbing the back of his head and neck anxiously.

The tweet is captioned C-132, which is a reference to their universe.

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We may learn more about this during the Rick and Morty season 5 finale this Sunday, a pair of episodes entitled "Forgetting Sarick Mortshall" and "Rickmurai Jack." Or AdultSwim might just keep this hanging around in the ether, as something to reveal at a later date. If we had to guess, this feels like a special to air between seasons. It may be canon, it may not be. 

Also, there's the question of what the heck exactly will this be. A movie seems less than likely, as we've yet to have an actual animated Rick and Morty movie, much less a live-action one. We're guessing that it's going to be a one-off episode at most, or a scene in the middle of an episode at the least. 

This clip, just because it uses a portal and talks about how they're finally home, makes us wonder if there's a tie-in to the finale. In a cold open clip released online that you can watch below, Morty is fixing Rick's mistakes by jumping through portal after portal (hence why it could be related to that live action clip). 

Then, Morty gets home and in an effort to make Rick think he wasn't travelling across dimensions ... gets the portal goo on his hand. That's when things get really crazy.

That said, it could just be a thing that exists into and of itself. AdultSwim, which just celebrated its 20th anniversary, is known for doing weird stuff to seemingly amuse itself. 

This appearance was kind of inevitable after Lloyd admitted he'd "like to" guest star or appear in the series in 2018.

Henry T. Casey
Managing Editor (Entertainment, Streaming)

Henry is a managing editor at Tom’s Guide covering streaming media, laptops and all things Apple, reviewing devices and services for the past seven years. Prior to joining Tom's Guide, he reviewed software and hardware for TechRadar Pro, and interviewed artists for Patek Philippe International Magazine. He's also covered the wild world of professional wrestling for Cageside Seats, interviewing athletes and other industry veterans.