If you're a fan of Rick & Morty, then you surely know the name Justin Roiland. If you don't know the name, you most certainly know the voice, as Roiland voices both Rick AND Morty on the mega-popular show, co-created by Dan Harmon. While the second half of season 4 just debuted this Sunday, there's a new animated show ready to take its place or, at the very least, serve as its close cousin. Solar Opposites is the new mature-rated sci-fi animated family adventure series from Roiland and co-creator Mike McMahan that, on the surface, seems exactly like Rick and Morty, but is very much its own thing. Well, mostly.
For those that want to avoid any kind of spoilers and just want to know if it's worth checking out, I'll give you the short and sweet of it; If you love Rick & Morty then you'll almost certainly love Solar Opposites, although it will take a few episodes to really warm up to it all. However, that could be said for most new shows. Fortunately, Solar Opposites doesn't waste much time in showing you just what it is, leaning heavily into the "alien-out-of-water" aspect, while doing away with the whole "aliens-in-hiding" genre you'd expect to find in a show like this. Nobody is on the hunt for this family and it's generally accepted that they're simply aliens that are assimilating into Earth life. However, they're not adapting to Earth culture so well, oftentimes with some very disasterous results. This "family" actually has a bigger purpose and can't seem to stay out of trouble no matter what they do, creating some ridiculous, hilarious and brilliantly-crafted scenarios that make the show stand out in some unsuspecting ways.
The "family" in question here is a group of aliens that escape from their home planet of Schlorp before it explodes, traveling to the closest habitable planet to establish themselves and, at some point, execute their "mission" which obviously involves taking over the planet and depends on something that their "child", aptly named "Pupa" (who is sure to give Baby Yoda some competition in the cuteness category) will do. It's all revealed over the course of season one, but the overarching plot is very much a secondary driving force with each episode containing an insanely wild, violent, profane, hilarious and clever adventure. It's easy to develop some favorites along the way, but perhaps the most clever aspect is a subplot involving shrunk humans that the aliens take hostage and put into a literal wall of habitats. I don't want to spoil any of that, but trust me when I say it's worth watching the show just for that aspect alone.
Justin Roiland voices Korvo, the super-smart scientist head-of-household alien with attitude (basically an alien version of Rick, but not quite as clever), while Thomas Middleditch voices his counterpart, Terry. On surface level, you'd think they were a couple, but as they're aliens it's never quite clear just what they are. Likewise "the kids", Yumyulack (Sean Giambrone) and Jesse (Mary Mack) seem like your standard issue brother/sister, but it becomes clear very early on that they've got some serious issues in adapting to life on Earth with some very twisted results. The dysfunction of the group is the key sell here as they struggle to be a part of their new world, while seemingly destroying it along the way. It's chock full of the R-rated humor and antics you've come to love with Rick & Morty and while it may seem familiar at times, it constantly rises to the top with some fun, clever twists and outrageous sci-fi antics.
SOLAR OPPOSITES season one (8 episodes) hits Hulu on May 8th.