Here Are the Voice Actors Who Replaced Justin Roiland on ‘Rick and Morty’
Last night’s premiere of Rick and Morty Season Seven marked the first episode of the smash hit series made without the involvement of co-creator and former star Justin Roiland, and the names of the artists chosen to replace Roiland have finally shown up in the credits of the Adult Swim flagship series — that is, unless “Ian Cardoni” and “Harry Belden” are pseudonyms for A.I. voice generators that are infiltrating the series according to the tin foil hats.
Ever since Adult Swim removed Roiland from Rick and Morty following much-publicized legal and behind-the-scenes drama, the terminally online and ridiculously ravenous Rick and Morty fanbase has been anxiously awaiting the recasting of Roiland’s many voice roles on the show. The controversial comic’s characters comprised the majority of the many Rick and Morty universes, but none of his performances were more integral to the show than the title characters whom every TikToker and amateur impressionist began campaigning to play as soon as they heard the positions were open.
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The winners of the arduous, months-long audition process for the roles of Rick and Morty are, officially, Cardoni and Belden respectively. Last night, the two up-and-coming actors and comedians began their tenure as the two most important voices on Adult Swim. As we all take a swig from our Rick Sanchez hip flasks to celebrate new beginnings, let’s toast to the hope that we never see either of their DMs on NBC News.
The L.A.-based Cardoni has a history of interesting voice acting gigs going into his breakthrough role, most notably as a narrator on WrestleMania 36 and WrestleMania 37. He has also had small roles on the Larry David-written HBO original movie Clear History and the Discovery+ series Dead of Night. Cardoni’s Rick has the energy and the cadence of the previous iteration and a judicious sense of when the burps are a bit too much.
Belden is a Chicago born-and-based comic whose most recent major gig was the 2021 Disney Channel original movie Christmas... Again?!, which featured another major voice acting figure, Gary Anthony Williams, perhaps best known for voicing Uncle Ruckus in The Boondocks, playing Santa Clause. Belden’s Morty — though less featured in the first episode of the new season — is a veritable “soundalike” as promised by producers.
Both casting choices reflect co-creator and executive producer Dan Harmon’s desire to make the transition from the old voices as smooth as possible. After an unfortunately eventful off-season, Harmon and Adult Swim chose to go in a very different direction from Hulu’s Solar Opposites, which replaced Roiland with established star Dan Stevens, inviting comparisons to his predecessor and sparking outcry from Roiland’s surprisingly existing fanbase.
Now, Rick and Morty are in good hands (mouths? throats?) with Cardoni and Belden behind the microphones, so fans who have been stressing about the changes made to their favorite show can go back to finding a thousand other reasons why Rick and Morty sucks now.
