There's been a lot of confusion online since Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon said season 4 has not yet been ordered by Adult Swim, but his latest comments on the matter provide a little bit of clarification.
While appearing on SModcast with Kevin Smith, the pair got into a discussion about how a creator can do things on their own schedule once they reach a certain point of popularity. Harmon said:
"Here comes the paranoid anxiety of like, I don't want any Rick and Morty fan hearing that and going like: 'Harmon's on Smith's podcast and he's talking about how it's great how he can take as much time as he wants.' The reason why we're not working on Rick and Morty right now ain’t because I figured out that I don’t need to impress you, it’s because of a little something called contract negotiations and it’s gotten complicated this time around.”
While this doesn't give us any indication of when we can expect season 4, it should calm down fans who think Rick and Morty is doomed. Based on how the show has become a cultural touchstone in recent years, and how Harmon had nothing but good things to say about Adult Swim in his interview with Smith, it seems to be only a matter of time before the two parties sort things out.
The show has gone through its fair share of drama since season 3 concluded last fall. In January, one of the writers on the show, Ryan Ridley said that he didn't expect the show to return until late 2019, and last week's news about the future of the show being in jeopardy only added fuel to the fire.
However, the Run the Jewels music video featuring Rick and Morty that arrived last week will help tide fans over during the long wait.