Commentary: ‘Rick And Morty’ Has The Most Accurate Multiverse

In the realm of science fiction, the multiverse is a very enticing prospect. There are so many stories based on the concept; superhero tales love to employ the device as it allows for multiple versions of a character. But all multiverse stories eventually fall short of the science from which they are based. By its very definition, a multiverse is, theoretically, infinite. But that’s almost never how it is portrayed in a story. The Jet Li movie The One, for example, was all about someone trying to be the last version of themselves left in the multiverse, which is technically impossible. Rick and Morty, however, leans into this idea so much that it might be the most scientifically accurate multiverse story there is.

Created by Dan Harmon, the show is about a brilliant but sociopathic inventor who just may be the smartest man in the universe. He built a portal gun that allows him to travel the multiverse, where there are infinite versions of him. He even utilizes these versions to come back to life after he dies and goes to war with them on occasion. Because the multiverse is actually infinite, this leads the inventor to have a nihilistic view of life where he can simply replace his family if they were to die.

Although Rick and Morty is in absurdist comedy, it really does take the concept of the multiverse to its scientific limit. Comic books love to identify their multiverses, sometimes even mapping them out, but this puts a constraint on the idea that Rick and Morty doesn’t acknowledge. Throughout the show, it appears that there truly is an infinite number of universes and there’s never any roadblocks to what’s possible. There are animal versions of the characters, versions that adopt literary stereotypes, and even universes where they don’t exist at all. The concept behind the multiverse theory, that every possibility can exist all at the same time, is fuel for Rick and Morty‘s ridiculous adventures.

Rick and Morty is now streaming on Hulu.