Will We Ever See A Solar Opposites And Rick & Morty Crossover?
Hidden within the alien is a dose of the familiar, at least in the case of the Hulu adult animated series Solar Opposites, which follows a family of aliens from a superior world who get stranded in America. If its animation style, voice acting, science-fiction foundation infused with familial themes, and ingenious but curmudgeonly patriarch don't ring a bell, you might want to brush up on your Rick and Morty (especially while we're still waiting for the fifth season): This new show comes to us courtesy of Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland.
It's no surprise that a ravenous fan base soon began to speculate that the two could be linked and started gathering evidence from Solar Opposites. In the seventh episode of season 1, in the wreckage of a neighborhood, there is a smoldering picture of what looks like Rick and Morty's Summer Smith at the edge of the frame. There's a poster for "Schwifty Live Jazz" in the pilot, and a billboard for Troyer Saves The Universe, a game invented by Roiland in real life, exists in the world of both animated sitcoms, directly connecting them.
Even if all these similarities didn't occur, the premise and precedent of Rick and Morty (portals, interdimensional cable, constant allusions) inherently allows for the ability to hop around the multiverse, so it could conceivably cross over with just about any animated show on television, regardless of premise.
Intellectual property law vs. a Solar Opposites crossover
The laws of physics aren't the only obstacle a potential crossover would face, despite Roiland suggesting that the two shows share a universe, or at least a multiverse. Down here on Earth, corporations aren't into sharing, and as far as intellectual property goes, the companies that own Rick and Morty and Solar Opposites — HBO/AT&T/Time Warner and Disney, respectively — might as well be light-years apart.
It's more likely we'll see a crossover between Solar Opposites and content owned by the same company: Mike McMahan joked that they'd already written the Transformers and Captain Crunch crossover episodes. But Rick and Morty fans are no strangers to exercising patience while waiting for more of the show, and the synergy between corporations may not be as impossible as Roiland and McMahan believe. They can be fantastical in their show while staying realistic in business, no matter how frustrating it is — but fans can still hold out hope.
It's clear that Roiland will do whatever he can to inject Solar Opposites with any qualities he wants it to have, even if this falls short of an overt crossover. In the first episode of Solar Opposites, we see Funbucket strangling a character who is clearly a cartoon likeness of Roiland. He's even sporting a Hulu t-shirt — perhaps a metaphor for feeling suffocated by corporate red tape? Either way, if the creator of Solar Opposites can make it into the show, maybe he'll find a way to bring his other brainchild with him.