It seems to be becoming common for Marvel Studios to hire former Rick & Morty writers for various film and series projects. So, it's exceptionally fortunate since the current saga of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is all about the Multiverse.
Michael Waldron acted as head writer for the first season of Loki and wrote the final draft of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Jessica Gao was the head writer for the currently streaming She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Finally, Jeff Loveness worked on the upcoming Ant-Man threequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
It's unsurprising then that three of the four projects involve the Multiverse, a subject that these Rick & Morty writers would be all too familiar with in the writer's room. However, in a new roundtable interview, even the producers for the Adult Swim series still struggle to keep track of all the various timelines in the series.
So, they've given some cheeky advice to other writers who are dabbling in the Multiverse, which includes those at Marvel Studios.
A Multiverse of Headaches for Rick & Morty Producers
In a roundtable interview with Digital Spy, Rick & Morty producers Dan Harmon and Scott Marder shared "words of wisdom" for writers like MCU scribes who are attempting to keep track of different timelines and universes in their projects.
Marder summarized how it can "easily spin out," such as keeping track of every timeline "so you're not being sloppy" and ending his advice with an empty "good luck:"
“It’s just super-challenging. Whenever we dip our toe in it, it can easily spin out to become mind-splitting. You’re just staring at a story that’s got a million Ricks in it. You’ve got to keep track of all of them so you’re not being sloppy. I don’t know. Good luck.”
As for Harmon, all the advice he could give was to talk about the problems that can come with "canonical stuff" and dealing with Multiverse logic, like there being "infinite evil Mortys:"
“[...] to me, the thing that sucks the most about it is having to remind yourself that when we do do canonical stuff, it’s like: well, technically aren’t there infinite evil Mortys, then?”
Harmon ended his answer by jokingly saying, "My tip to multiverse writers is: abandon ship, baby. Move onto Bitcoin."
Some Bittersweet Guidance for MCU Writers
It seems that even the producers for Rick & Morty have found the topic of the Multiverse a troublesome concept. This is arguably unsurprising, considering the vastness of the Multiverse as a subject and its many intricacies as a scientific theory.
In the past, Waldron expressed his minor frustrations with writing about the Multiverse in the Doctor Strange sequel and how all the rules had begun to pile up and feel restrictive. However, it was his own rules that he had established from his work on Loki.
At the moment, it seems like the Multiverse's influence on the Marvel Cinematic Universe will end with Avengers: Secret Wars. Still, until then, several films and series will deal with the concept. But keeping track of all the rules of the Multiverse and time travel in the MCU is already becoming troublesome such as Ms. Marvel of all shows involving time travel.
So, hopefully, the writers and producers at Marvel Studios will be able to maintain consistency in the Multiverse and not have to pivot too harshly before the saga's grand finale.
