May 2, 2021 | 2:01pm ET
“The simulation is corrupt,” and it falls on Rick and Morty to “repair the core ,” in the new video game-inspired short Rick and Morty in the Eternal Nightmare Machine. It’s the latest and most adventurous trailer for the cult comedy’s upcoming Season 5, which premieres on Sunday, June 20th.
Via The A.V. Club, the 17-minute side-scroller debuted Friday evening during a Rick and Morty marathon on Adult Swim. It was directed by the Prince of Pixels himself, Paul Robertson, who has previously lent his ’80s arcade aesthetic to a Rick and Morty intro, the 15-second mind-fuck Morty’s Dream, and dozens of other delightful interludes for Adult Swim.
Eternal Nightmare Machine begins at the dinner table, as Jerry, Beth, and Summer suddenly morph into horrifying aberrations. That’s nothing a little laser-blasting can’t fix, but once it’s done, our antiheroes find themselves transported to an alternate dimension full of villainous monsters and throwback easter eggs.
Related Video
As if that weren’t enough, Adult Swim has unveiled another, more conventional trailer for Season 5. It boasts Vampire Weekend’s “Diane Young” as a backing track, and previews plenty of high-concept hijinks to come. Check out that and Eternal Nightmare Machine below.