The “Rick and Morty” franchise already encompasses multiple series, comic books, shorts films, video games and many other forms of media, but their tv universe just got a little bigger. Adult Swim’s “Rick and Morty” is already signed up for adventures around the multiverse through season 12, but the franchise still had some big news to announce at San Diego Comic-Con. President Curtis, voiced by Keith David will be getting his own spin-off, which will seemingly exist in the main “Rick and Morty” universe although the President in question being a multiversal doppelgänger is not outside the realm of possibility. Keith David made a surprise appearance at the “Rick and Morty” panel to help break the news to their fandom.
The series will be Co-Created by Dan Harmon and James Siciliano and will obvious feature David as President Curtis. Other high-profile members of the cast are Stephanie Beatrix from “Brooklyn Nine Nine” and Jim Rash from “Community”. The series is so far only titled “President Curtis”, which may or may not end up changing. The show’s logline reads: “President Curtis follows the Commander-in-Chief and his eccentric staff as they tackle the kind of crises that Rick Sanchez could never be bothered with, from interdimensional diplomacy to paranormal investigations and unexplained phenomena.”
President Curtis follows the Commander-in-Chief and his eccentric staff as they tackle the kind of crises that Rick Sanchez could never be bothered with, from interdimensional diplomacy to paranormal investigations and unexplained phenomena.”
The description leads us to believe we could get an “X-Files” type of government vibe here, or it could end up being a little more shallow and based more off President Curtis’ random egotistical whims. We definitely rethink we’ll see Bigfoot in the mix, amongst other interdimensional, paranormal, unexplained type situations that Harmon and his team can whip up.
The franchise has experimented with spin-offs, doing a short form YouTube series revolving around ‘The Vindicators’ which we’ve seen in the man series and in 2024 releasing the “Rick and Morty: The Anime” series that got completely murdered on RT with a 50% RT critic score and a dismal 17% audience score. That being said, the flagship series has been a proven formula for success, even after the scandal of franchise Co-Creator Justin Roiland. Adult Swim keeping the show renewed through season 12 is all the vote of confidence that Harmon should ever need, but with the flop of the Anime series, it’ likely that Harmon will opt to keep Curtis in the same universe as “Rick and Morty” currently reside… or at least a veery close alternate universe that’s only one portal away from the Rickest Rick and the Mortiest Morty.
David commented during the panel: “President Curtis has always been a blast to play…Getting to explore his world more deeply in this new series is a dream. I can’t wait for fans to see what kind of chaos he stirs up when Rick. Isn’t around. To steal the spotlight.” Michael Ouweleen, Adult Swim President also chimed in about the announcement: “This is a series we would have greenlit even if it didn’t have anything at all to do with Rick and Morty…President Andres Curtis is just that good of a character. The rest of the world the team has fleshed out is super fun and totally stands on its own. We can’t wait for you to see it.”
The series creators also made a statement: “President Curtis has always been one of our favorite characters to write — he’s the only person in the multiverse who can go toe-to-toe with Rick and still hold office…Now we finally get to go on sci-fi missions from Curtis’ point of view. And with Keith David leading the charge, it’s going to be a wild ride.” Keith David has worked with Harmon separately on his series “Krapopolis” at Fox and has also recently worked with Mike Judge on Hulu’s “King of the Hill” revival. The actor has been busy on multiple high-profile animated series and has recently did some work on the popular new series “High Potential” as well as the hit series “Abbott Elementary”.
No release date has been set for “President Curtis”, but with “Rick and Morty” season 9 currently in production, it’s unlikely we’ll get any episodes from a spin-off until 2026 or possibly even later. It is possible that Harmon could double up some of the Production, if Rick and Morty make any appearances or have a significant role in the spin-off, but the way the Adult Swim exec emphasized the world standing on it’s own, nothing more than a cameo or two is likely.
What do you think? What will “President Curtis” be about? Will steering away form the sci-fi magic of the series hurt viewership and fracture the fanbase? We think “President Curtis” can exist as it’s own great show, but we also see that franchise fatigue is a real thing. Let us know your thoughts in the o comments below!
