Rick and Morty are back in new bloodsoaked short

Rick and Morty may not be returning for a fresh batch of season 4 episodes anytime soon, but we’ve got the next best thing: a surprise short filled with buckets of blood, your usual Adult Swim-style wackiness, and more ninjas than you can shake a samurai sword at.

The five-minute-long mini-episode (which you can watch for yourself above) dropped out of nowhere over the weekend and features the grandpa-and-grandson duo getting the anime treatment – complete with Japanese dub.

The bloodletting begins early in this one as Rick – dubbed “Rick WTM-72” – is surrounded by those wanting to take Shogun Morty off his hands. So he takes off their hands. And eyes. And face. A fair word of warning: it’s probably not for the squeamish.

Shogun Morty even gets in on the act by removing the shins of his foes, before Rick engages in a fight with a hulking brute ninja that can only be described as a Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice boss fight on speed. Then, there’s a hallucination dream sequence – which is probably influenced by something a little stronger than speed – as Rick and Morty make their escape.

Despite the Rick and Morty season 4 return date still evading us, the short continues the trend of new content from the world of the sci-fi show. It follows on from a series of surreal Rick and Morty teasers that had fans thinking new episodes might be imminent. Unfortunately, no dice – but this is a nice (if very bloody) compromise.

Relive the duo's finest adventures with our rundown of the best Rick and Morty episodes

Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at 12DOVE, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.