Solar Opposites
Isn’t Rick and Morty...and That’s OK
By Alec Bojalad
Solar Opposites season 2 premieres March 26 on Hulu. And it remains a worthy, though quite different, successor to Rick and Morty.
Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland’s preferred animation style is very recognizable.
Featuring oblong bodies and asterisk pupils, the art has served Rick and Morty well and even influenced former Mortywriter Mike McMahan’s Star Trek: Lower Decks.
The animation might be best-served, however, on Roiland and McMahan’s Hulu collaboration Solar Opposites.
When it first premiered in May of 2020, Solar Opposites did have all the appearances of a Rick and Morty clone, given its aesthetic and the talent involved.
Its eight-episode first season quickly revealed that it was very much its own thing. Solar Opposites has a family sitcom sensibility, albeit with aliens.
“Shlorpians” Korvo (Roiland) and Terry (Thomas Middleditch), their “replicants” Yumyulack (Sean Giambrone) and Jesse (Mary Mack), and their Pupa are your prototypical TV family.
The situations in Solar Opposites do tend to get quite ridiculous thanks to the show’s sci-fi leanings. But the ebbs and flows of its half-hour sitcom format remain pleasantly familiar.
One notable season 1 featured Yumyulack shrinking humans and imprisoning them in his wall, leading to a brilliant Mad Max-esque episode from their perspective.
While Solar Opposites seemingly came out of the gate with its formula perfected, it might be even better in its second season.
Solar Opposites season 2 features episodes in which the aliens manipulate time via “Lake House rules”, turn a forest into a bustling, crime-ridden city, and continue the beloved “Wall” storyline.
With a third season already confirmed, Solar Opposites should continue to prove it can stand on its own two alien feet.