Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Rick and Morty season 7, episode 3.

Summary

  • Rick and Morty season 7, episode 3 features a familiar joke that has already appeared in superhero movies and was first introduced by the show in 2017.
  • The show's playful deconstruction of sci-fi tropes has influenced a generation of shows and movies to incorporate self-aware, satirical humor.
  • Rick and Morty's success has led to its writers working on major blockbusters and MCU projects, while many major studio releases now mimic the show's style of humor.

While Rick and Morty season 7, episode 3 features a hilarious subversion of a classic sci-fi trope, the show used this gag years earlier. Rick and Morty’s success has had a huge influence on pop culture in the decade since the series began. The show's writers have even gone on to work on major blockbusters and MCU projects. Rick and Morty's playful deconstruction of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror tropes has inspired a generation of shows and movies to toy with the same conventions. Many major studio releases now ape the self-aware, satirical humor Rick and Morty popularized.

This sometimes means that Rick and Morty season 7 gags feel familiar, even when viewers are seeing them for the first time. After all, these jokes — or jokes like them — have appeared in savvy, self-parodic blockbusters of the last few years, as well as in Rick and Morty’s many imitators. However, in Rick and Morty season 7, episode 3, “Air Force Wong,” the show takes this approach further. Not only does one of the outing’s best gags appear in numerous superhero movies, but it also shows up in a Rick and Morty episode back in 2017.

Rick & Morty Season 7, Episode 3’s Crack Team Ruins A Classic Sci-Fi Trope

The Vindicators assembled in Rick and Morty

In “Air Force Wong,” the U.S. president assembles a supposedly expert team to invade Virginia and work out what's going on in the state. The president’s so-called “crack team” doesn't last long, as they all become part of the hive mind that has taken over the state mere moments after arriving in Virginia. Rick mocks the president for this failure, but this punchline will feel familiar to fans of sci-fi movies, superhero cinema, and Rick and Morty itself. While Rick and Morty season 7 has changes the show’s status quo, this joke effectively mirrors an early gag from a season 3 episode.

In Rick and Morty season 3, episode 4, “Vindicators 3: The Return of Worldender,” Rick wipes out an entire team of superheroes over a vendetta that he's too drunk to even . This darkly hilarious episode is one of the first superhero satires to feature a highly hyped “crack team,” all of whom die shortly after their introduction. The gag made “Vindicators 3: The Return of Worldender” a hit with audiences precisely because blockbusters about indestructible superheroes were beginning to become tiresome around the episode’s arrival. Since then, numerous movies have revisited this gag.

Rick & Morty Season 3's Vindicators Gag Started This Parody Trend In 2017

Brad Pitt grimaces in a burning paraglider during his cameo in Deadpool 2.

While Rick and Morty’s best gags are often referenced in other shows, this 2017 punchline proved particularly influential. This gag was repeated almost verbatim in Deadpool 2 a year after the episode aired. In the film, the X-Force are all messily killed before they can play a meaningful role. The joke was revisited again in 2021’s The Suicide Squad before "Air Force Wong" brought it back yet again. As if to underline the joke’s popularity, online news outlets predicted The Suicide Squad would revisit this specific Rick and Morty gag before the movie’s release. It seems its impact on pop culture is ongoing, making it even more hilarious.