The New ‘Rick and Morty’ Intro Teases the Return of Rick’s Most Fearsome Frenemy
When Rick and Morty returns to Adult Swim on May 25th, fans will have a fresh new set of snippets from the opening montage sequence to speculate upon while we wait to finally see what Rick plans to do with Chtulhu’s baby.
In the Rick and Morty universe, no side character can be counted out from a future appearance, no matter how dead they may seem or how much Rick may wish to never revisit his complicated nemesis-turned-sort-of-friendship relationship with them. Series creator Dan Harmon is one of the most obsessive canon-keepers in television history, and his meticulous stewardship of the show’s many off-screen plot lines and rarely-seen supporting cast member both delights the hordes of Rick and Morty wiki-readers and enrages the fanbase when they fall for another intro sequence bait-and-switch.
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Earlier today, Adult Swim released the new opening sequence for Rick and Morty Season Eight, and one scene showing a certain seductive subaquatic cop-controller with his hands all over Rick’s buns, sending the Rickster Nimbus shippers of the fandom into hysterics:
Rick’s “nemesis,” Mr. Nimbus, first appeared in the Rick and Morty Season Five episode “Mort Dinner Rick Andre” where the lusty merman established himself as one of the possibly-lovers-turned-rivals from Rick’s past. Rick and Mr. Nimbus spend the evening arguing over the terms of a treaty before Summer screws everything up by revealing that Rick had a contingency plan should negotiations turn south — and not in the fun way. By the looks of the intro scene, it seems like Rick and Mr. Nimbus have made amends and then some.
In the Season Six episode “Analyze Piss,” the Rick-Nimbus rivalry has again grown violent, although the complicated and occasionally sexual dynamics of their relationship takes a back seat to Rick’s even more fucked-up attachment to poor Pissmaster. In the post-credits scene of “Analyze Piss,” Mr. Nimbus replaces Jerry on a council of gross superheroes. Rick and Morty Season Seven had no Nimbus sightings, possibly because he was too busy with his weirdly sticky orb of power. Perhaps Season Eight will see his return, but when it comes to the Rick and Morty opener, nothing is assured.
Ever since the Rick and Morty pilot first aired on December 2, 2013, Harmon and his team have been teasing the fans with a short clip show at the top of each episode in which actual previews of future Rick and Morty scenes are interspersed with hilariously detailed misdirections. The Rick and Morty intro sequence in Season One featured three actual scenes from the season along with the fake-outs, but every season since the show’s first year on air has shown only two episode previews amidst the creative and comical red herrings.
Time will tell if the return of Mr. Nimbus is one of the two true clues from the intro sequence, or if the thumb war of the Beths will be a bigger plot line in Rick and Morty Season Eight.
