MultiVersus has scrubbed any existence of Justin Roiland's voice work for Adult Swim characters Rick and Morty from the game, replacing them with fresh bespoke voice lines, courtesy of their new actors.
I took a peep at the game's credits during a preview build I got my hands on earlier this month and sure enough, Roiland is notably absent from the English voice talent roster. Instead, Ian Cardoni and Harry Belden—the new voice actors for Rick and Morty respectively—are present.
Roiland was dropped from Rick & Morty—which he co-created with Dan Harmon—by Adult Swim early last year, after it emerged he was charged with "felony domestic battery with corporal injury" and "felony false imprisonment by menace, violence, fraud and/or deceit" back in May 2020. He also stepped down from Squanch Games, the studio he co-founded, around the same time Adult Swim cut ties.
- League of Legends hit by SAG-AFTRA union action as Riot delays English VO to 'respect the ongoing strike' over AI, though voice actors think it could be doing more to help
- Multiversus director addresses fans angered by its upcoming closure: 'You're entitled to what you say and think, but when there are threats to harm it's crossing the line'
The charges were dropped two months later, in March 2023, "as a result of insufficient evidence to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt." After the dismissal, Roiland tweeted to say he "never had any doubt that this day would come," adding: "I'm determined to move forward and focus both on my creative projects and restoring my good name."
Despite this, additional allegations surfaced in September 2023 in an NBC report. It alleged that Roiland had engaged in explicit conversations with a number of young fans, some of whom were reportedly underage. Roiland's lawyer called the allegations "false and defamatory." No further news has come out of the report, and Roiland has been radio silent on social media since his above tweet last year.
It's worth noting that Roiland didn't actually provide any original voice work for MultiVersus. All lines for both Rick and Morty were cribbed from the TV show despite the rest of the cast having custom voice work done, a good chunk of it coming from each fighter's original voice actor. The reason why was never actually addressed, though most assumed that Roiland was busy with season 6 of Rick & Morty as well as his game High on Life.
That's not the case with Cardoni and Belden though, who've come on board to record some game-specific voice lines. The intro movie sees Rick using the portal gun to dash through the Batcave, shouting "sorry Bruce!" before hopping off elsewhere. I didn't get a chance to plonk either character in battle with someone else for those sweet special interactions, but I'd assume they're present in the game, too.
If you're wanting to hear what the new Rick and Morty sound like among folk like LeBron James, Mark Hamil's Joker and, uh, Banana Guard, there's not long left to wait. MultiVersus officially relaunches on May 28 with some interesting new PvE missions and fine-tuned combat I much prefer.
