Rick & Morty Season 9 Returns With Record-High Rotten Tomatoes Scores
Rick and Morty storms back with Season 9, and early reviews say it’s the sharpest, funniest, most inventive run in years. The new batch is even rocking a rare 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes ahead of its full drop.
If you bailed on 'Rick and Morty' somewhere along the way, I genuinely can’t blame you. The show’s been all over the shop these last few years—brilliant one episode, lost in its own cleverness the next. But Series 9 is doing something no one really expected: it’s managing to win over even some of its most exhausted critics. And, get this, it's currently sat on a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score. Not even the original run pulled that off.
Critical Reactions: Has 'Rick and Morty' Actually Pulled Off a Comeback?
Early reviews are coming in stronger than we’ve seen for the show in ages. Critics who've been openly weary are now admitting there’s a real spark here—more wit, sharper writing, and the sort of creativity that made people fall in love with it in the first place. There’s actual buzz, not just the usual hype Adult Swim slaps on every trailer.
What’s standing out? It’s the way Series 9 balances its trademark sci-fi weirdness with emotional resonance, plus that streak of pitch-black humour they can’t resist. A bit of an art, after so many years in production. David Opie from GamesRadar+ put it quite directly:
'If you’ve thought about giving up on Rick and Morty — or did already — trust me when I say that 2026 is the year you should give the show another chance.'
Nick Valdez over at ComicBook.com was on the same page, calling this series ‘a high point for the Adult Swim original.’ And if you’re worried the format’s finally run out of steam, apparently not: Ben Gibbons (Screen Rant) reckons the new episodes are still bursting with what he calls ‘innovation, ingenuity, and creativity’—and credits Dan Harmon’s team for keeping the wheels spinning after the better part of a decade.
Peter Martin at ScreenAnarchy even flagged up the animation and episode structure, saying the bonkers science fiction bits still manage to feel oddly plausible for the show’s world. Which is... impressive given how wild things get.
The Numbers: Rotten Tomatoes is (Weirdly) Off the Charts
Right, here’s the jaw-dropper: Series 9 currently has 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. No, that’s not a typo. It’s the best opening for 'Rick and Morty' on RT in years, maybe ever, based on the first wave of critic reviews. Here’s a quick look at how past series stack up, just for context:
- Series 1: 97%
- Series 2: 91%
- Series 3: 96%
- Series 4: 96%
- Series 5: 86%
- Series 6: 91%
- Series 7: 77% (ouch)
- Series 8: 93%
- Series 9: 100% (the current record-holder)
So, yes, you read that right: this new batch is getting a cleaner bill of health from critics than pretty much anything since those first few glory years. And given the sustained chaos behind the scenes and in the show itself, that's not nothing.