Spoilers below for anyone who hasn’t yet watched Rick and Morty‘s latest episode on Adult Swim or with a Max subscription, so be warned!
Just when it looked like James Gunn’s presence in 2025 pop culture would be 100% tethered to the DCU’s Superman and endless Batman conversations, leave it to Rick and Morty to blow such expectations away, and with fellow superhero filmmaker Zack Snyder in the mix, no doubt. That’s right, the Adult Swim mainstay featured both directors for an excellent episode targeting mega-bloated Hollywood franchises and the brains behind them.
Danny DeVito as Dr. Dogballs, Rick and Morty welcomed the aforementioned blockbuster directors to the episode “Ricker Than Fiction,” in which the titular characters addressed their frustrations and attempted to use technology to fix the awkward plotting of the “Maximum Velocitree” franchise. Though Gunn was the ep’s legitimate antagonist, Snyder landed my favorite line at the expense of fellow DC visionary Christopher Nolan. Let’s take a closer look at these series-best guest spots that graced the 2025 TV schedule.
share a pic of him and Zack Snyder palling around and looking like dear old friends. Before that, fans speculation revolved around whether the two filmmakers actually got along or not, with many people inferring levels of hostility between them, given that Gunn and Peter Safran taking over DC Studios was the co-CEO nail in the Snyder-verse’s Kryptonite-lined coffin.
Beyond all the speculation about their possible friendship, the image also sparked theories about Snyder being utilized in some capacity for the DCU, with ideas ranging from something as simple as a consultant all the way to hopes that he’ll direct the DCU’s eventual Justice League team-up. Now we know that all the speculation was in vain, and the pic is actually a reference to their Rick and Morty work together. Which, to be fair, I don’t think anyone saw coming.
James Gunn Is A Fantastic Self-Deprecating Guest Star
Having honed his filmmaking skills at Troma Entertainment and on features like Scooby-Doo and Slither — he also wrote the screenplay for Zack Snyder’s 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake — James Gunn entered the upper echelon of zeitgeisty directors by taking on the offbeat Guardians of the Galaxy movies, and never lost his ability to connect with audiences, nor his sense of humor.
Which makes him kind of a perfect foil for a show like this, in an episode that essentially pokes fun at the “art” of making endless sequels for popular franchises, and how a tool like A.I. can be overhyped as a savior, despite only being as strong as the person using it. (In this case, it’s Jerry, so draw your own conclusions…in crayon.)
Just in case anyone thinks The Suicide Squad helmer was forced into this role by his overlords at Warner Bros. (who also took a hilarious lashing-via-satire in the ep), take a look at his Instagram post:
Maybe it’s just me, but I kinda feel like Gunn can maybe become a regular, recurring part of Rick and Morty‘s lore, popping up time and again when it makes sense, and also when it doesn’t. He should direct a whole episode of Interdimensional Cable segments.
However, Zack Snyder Got The Biggest Laugh With His Christopher Nolan Joke
Yeah, it’s undeniably nerdy to laugh scoffingly at a movie director lobbing a big, sloppy jab at another director’s work in a way you can 100% tell the joke was written in earnest, but with enough self-awareness that it’s couched in hyperbole. Though Zach Snyder only popped in for a single scene, he delivered the best example possible of the above concept, saying this after Gunn described Rick.
That’s Rick Sanchez. Gunner, that’s the guy that sealed Nolan in the giant bookcase to quote-unquote punish him for Interstellar. He doesn’t represent real fans. He’s just the smartest man in the universe.
Ha! I’ll go on record as being a huge fan of Interstellar, along with the bulk of Nolan’s filmography. Despite that, however, I may remember friends and colleagues griping about the morse code and the bookshelf than I can recall what many of the scenes were actually about. (It’s been a while, to be fair.) As such, it’s fantastic that in Rick and Morty canon, the namesake scientist sought retribution by trapping the Dark Knight director in a giant bookcase. “Now I am become furniture, suspender of novels.”
Let’s take a quick look at some of the other top-tier lines from Snyder and Gunn’s appearances.
- JAMES GUNN: “Hey! Bradley Cooper carved that desk!”
- ZACK SNYDER: “Do more shots of him punching. And here is a secret move: start the punch at regular speed, and then you’re gonna ramp it do-o-o-own.”
- JAMES GUNN: “Zack, we’re not losing touch with the audience, are we? I mean, I gave notes on the goddamned Count Chocula movie this morning.”
- JAMES GUNN: “I read that dinosaur book you wrote, Jerry. Really good stuff…. Well, I got the gist.”
- JAMES GUNN: “Ooh, I love sundaes. [Gets shot.]”
I’ll have to give it some more thought to decide whether or not “Ricker Than Fiction” belongs in the list of best Rick and Morty episodes ever, but I’ll still be hoping for the rest of Season 8’s episode to be even better, because why not? Isn’t that what….Maximum…Velocitrees…would do? No really, would they?