Great Scott! 'Rick and Morty' goes live action with Christopher Lloyd for cryptic season finale teaser

This is heavy. The damage caused by Doctor Strange's wayward spell in the Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer seems to have caused more ripples throughout the multiverse than we originally thought. Ahead of the hour-long finale of Rick and Morty's fifth season this Sunday, Adult Swim tweeted out a cryptic video that brings the titular grandfather-grandson duo into the realm of live-action, where they are played by Christopher Lloyd and Jaeden Martell, respectively.

Lloyd's appearance is huge because the actor's portrayal of Doctor Emmett Brown in Robert Zemeckis's Back to the Future trilogy served as the original inspiration for the character of Rick Sanchez. In fact, the entire show is based on a 2006 parody short from series co-creator Justin Roiland (the usual voice of both Rick and Morty) entitled "The Real Animated Adventures of Doc and Mharti." As you might have guessed, Morty is based on Michael J. Fox's Marty McFly. You'll probably recognize Martell from such films as It (Chapters 1 and 2) and Knives Out.

Check it out below:

The caption of "C-132" denotes the classification of the parallel plane of reality in which the flesh-and-blood versions of these characters exist (for example, the Rick we all know and love hails from Dimension C-137). 

It's unclear if the video is meant to serve as a teaser for the oversized finale or as a standalone bumper that simply pays loving homage to the show's creative roots. We're hoping it's the former because why in the world would you go to all the trouble of casting such well-known actors if you're only going to use them for 14 seconds of screen-time?

The following statement provided to SYFY WIRE by an Adult Swim representative seems to confirm that the video is indeed tied to the new episode: "It’s the Rick and Morty Season 5 finale this weekend and you never know what surprises are in store."

“I think it’s fabulous. I’ve watched it, I love the humor in it, I love the characters," Lloyd said (via GeekTyrant) of Rick and Morty back in 2019. "I’ve had a fantasy that they make another Back to the Future, Back to the Future 4. And Back to the Future 4 — it’s not happening — but if it did, Back to the Future 4 collides with Rick and Morty. Someway, somewhere in another time zone, in another space zone.”

The Season 5 finale airs on Adult Swim this coming Sunday (Sep. 5) at 11 p.m. EST.