'Rick And Morty' Season 5 Release Date Could Be Earlier Than Expected

"Rick and Morty" season 5 might come out before the year ends.

The fourth season of the hit adult animated science fiction sitcom "Rick and Morty" wrapped up in May. Since then, fans have been waiting for season 5. Normally, based on the past seasons, it would take a year or two for the producers to drop the new season. However, this time, the waiting time might be shorter.

"Rick and Morty" series co-creator Dan Harmon has revealed that they were "basically done writing" season 5. In fact, they are already in the process of finalizing the last episode of the season and many of the writers have already moved on to working on season 6, Inverse reported.

Director Erica Hayes previously told Inverse that most episodes take 9 to 12 months to make, starting from ideation to completion. Meanwhile, releasing animatics to tease new seasons has become a tradition at Comic-Con. By examining the initial animatic reveal and the episode's airdate, one can draw the possible airdate of the new season.

For instance, during San Diego Comic-Con 2016, Adult Swim released an early animatic focused on Pickle Rick, then "Rick and Morty" Season 3 was released 13 months after.

Moreover, Adult Swim also published another sneak peak of the season on YouTube on Jan. 3, 2017 from the episode "Rick and Ricklaxation" which didn't air until August. 27. So fans can expect at least seven months of lead time.

Another clue was the"Rick and Morty" panel at SDCC 2019. During the annual event, Adult Swim released an animatic featuring Jerry trying to hang Christmas lights. The scene was the opening of "Rattlestar Ricklactica" episode which aired in December 2019, the mid-season finale of season 4, which was only about five months from the release of the teaser.

On July 24, Adult Swim released a new teaser on YouTube which might hint that fans are only a few months away from watching season 5. Considering the timing of Adult Swim’s teaser, the earliest possible release date for "Rick and Morty" Season 5 could be in December. Or fans could wait for it until April 2020.

Meanwhile, Chris Parnell, who voices Jerry Smith in the series, revealed in May that some episodes were done, but they haven't started recording. He also said that he already upgraded his home setup, so he could record proper sessions from his home.

Also, Harmon said in a previous interview that he already learned his lesson when it comes to producing new episodes on time. This could be among the reasons why the wait won't be that long.

"I mostly blame myself for doing 10 instead of 14. I'm still learning how to do the show efficiently while catering to the perfectionist in all of us," he said. "I would like to think I've learned enough from my mistakes in season 3 that we could definitely do 14 now."