Summary

• Rick and Morty successfully replaced Justin Roiland's voice actors, allowing the show to continue uninterrupted.
• Solar Opposites took a different approach to recasting by intentionally changing Korvo's voice, which negatively affected the show.
• Rick and Morty has a larger volume of episodes ordered and a more secure future than Solar Opposites.

Like Solar Opposites was heavily affected by the issues surrounding Justin Roiland's dismissal, but the recasting didn't work as well for the Hulu show. Both titles took a different approach when replacing the voice actor and co-creator, and one handled it better than the other. Roiland also served as a writer for both shows and continues to be credited as an executive producer for Rick and Morty. However, he no longer has any direct creative input into either show.

Rick and Morty first aired in 2013, and its success allowed Justin Roiland to co-create Solar Opposites, which began in 2020. Although his writing duties were covered fairly easily once he left, Roiland voiced a great many characters in both shows. As such, both properties required a casting overhaul to varying degrees. While the process for Rick and Morty season 7 has been relatively simple, Solar Opposites season 4 addressed its character recasting needs with a more head-on and self-aware approach.

Rick And Morty Replaced Justin Roiland With Impressionists (& It Worked Out Great)

All of Roiland's characters needed individual replacements

Roiland was a very versatile performer during his time with Rick and Morty, and he lent his voice to various ancillary characters, as well as Rick Sanchez and Morty Smith. The titular Rick and Morty characters are now voiced by separate voice actors, with Rick being played by Ian Cardoni, and Morty by Harry Belden. Many of the side characters formerly voiced by Roiland have also required individual replacements. For example, Mr. Poopybutthole is now voiced by John Allen.

The replacement voice artists had to face the unusual challenge of not only offering a convincing performance but also replicating the voices and cadences favored by Justin Roiland. However, for the most part, the new Rick and Morty voice actors have worked out well and have convincingly taken over their respective roles. As a result, Rick and Morty has been able to continue practically uninterrupted.

Solar Opposites Took A Different Approach To Its Korvo Recasting

Justin Roiland had far fewer characters in Solar Opposites

Solar Opposites is cast more conventionally, with each of the main characters being voiced by a separate actor. Up until the end of Solar Opposites season 3, Roiland lent his voice to the character of Korvo. Despite being canonically unrelated to Rick and Morty, Korvo sounded very similar to Roiland's performances as Rick and Morty's Rick Sanchez. When Roiland was dismissed from Solar Opposites, Korvo underwent a complete vocal transformation, unlike any of the voice actor's Rick and Morty personas.

Rather than following Adult Swim's lead and searching for soundalikes, Hulu decided Roiland's influence on the show should be left in the past. As a result, Dan Stevens' distinctive British accent became the voice of Korvo in Solar Opposites season 4. Unlike the new voices in Rick and Morty season 7, Korvo's voice has now become drastically and intentionally different from the seasons where he was played by Justin Roiland.

Why Solar Opposites' Recasting Doesn't Work As Well

The show has suffered due to its unusual casting choice

Although Solar Opposites directly addressed Korvo's vocal transformation at the start of season 4 with an in-world explanation, Dan Stevens' voice is too different not to be distracting. Considering the show's loss of Roiland required much less recasting than Rick and Morty did, Solar Opposites' approach was much less effective. The Adult Swim show revealed it was possible to find voice actors capable of imitating Roiland's voice, whereas Solar Opposites chose to go in a direction so extreme that it negatively affected the show.

While Rick and Morty and Solar Opposites are undeniably connected, the shows are on two different networks. So, although Ian Cardoni would arguably be able to voice Korvo as he does Rick Sanchez, there may have been contract issues that prevented Cardoni from working on both projects simultaneously. If this is the reason why Solar Opposites opted to completely change Korvo's voice, then it's unclear why Hulu did not simply hire another soundalike to help the production continue more smoothly.

Considering how much scouting for alternative talent Rick and Morty had to do when compared with Solar Opposites, it's surprising how much more effectively the former show achieved the task. Solar Opposites had much less work to do to replace Justin Roiland, and yet their show has changed noticeably more than Rick and Morty due to the huge change in the voice of one of their main characters.

The future of both shows is also telling, with one having a much greater volume of episodes ordered by their network. Hulu has also been much more tentative in renewing its show than Adult Swim. While Rick and Morty season 8, season 9, and season 10 - although the batch renewal of the latter happened before Roiland's departure.

Seasons 1-6 of Rick & Morty can be streamed on Hulu, with season 7 arriving on the platform in 2024. Solar Opposites seasons 1-4 are also on Hulu.