Solar Opposites: 10 Rick & Morty References Everyone Completely Missed

Justin Roiland and Mike McMahan’s new, adult-oriented, animated Hulu original Solar Opposites premiered May 8th, 2020. The show shares a lot of humor with the first blow-up smash hit that Justin Roiland co-created Rick and Morty. 

Although, humor, along with a co-creator, aren’t the only things the two intellectual properties have in common. Both series share a plethora of references to past projects and inside jokes that only fans would spot. Fans are normally great at dissecting each scene, and trying to find hidden references within the show, but here are 10 references to Rick And Morty you definitely missed while watching Solar Opposites.

10 Fun-Bucket

In the pilot episode of  Solar Opposites, “The Matter Transfer Array,” Korvo and Terry become obsessed with a character named Fun-Bucket. Although he seems like a random character, he is introduced when Terry turns on a kids’ show called “Fun-Bucket Tad Stockings.”

In the show, Fun-Bucket is a character that has a secret lab in a little boy’s basement along with a comedic disdain for human life. This sounds eerily similar to Rick Sanchez, and Korvo and Terry are quick to fall in love with the character due to his obvious love of science. The character is a great reference to Rick, with catchphrases and portals aplenty.

9 Trover Saves The Universe

In episode three, “The Quantum Ring,” there are plenty of references to other shows/movies. Along with those references, there’s a sneaky easter egg during a montage about ten minutes in. Ten minutes and thirty seconds into the episode there’s a billboard shown in what looks like time square, the billboard reads “Trover Saves The Universe.” 

That title is a reference to a VR game that the co-creator of Rick and Morty, Justin Roiland, released. The game itself is jam-packed with references to Dan Harmon and Roiland’s love child. This reference is less direct and is very sneaky, but if you have a quick eye you can totally catch it.

8 The Simpsons

In a very short snippet, The Simpsons make an appearance in the season finale of Solar Opposites. This isn’t the first time Justin Roiland has worked with the beloved family. All the way back in 2015, Rick and Morty showed up in the infamously ever-changing couch gag.

The Simpsons season 26, episode 22 called “Mathlete’s Feat” features Rick Sanchez and Morty Smith crashing through into the living room through a portal killing the animated family. The Simpsons are referenced often in Roiland’s works, almost as if they’re in the same universe.

7 Shared Universe Theory

It’s commonly speculated among fans that their favorite shows share a universe, and there are several theories that particularly Gravity Falls and Rick and Morty share the same multiverse. Solar Opposites occur in a time and place where aliens can crash land on earth and people don’t just lose their minds. Sharing a universe with its beloved interdimensional older brother Rick And Morty has become a common theory.

 Since the show is packed with easter eggs to so many other properties and products it’s definitely not far away from being possible. If Rick can access The Simpsons’ universe, having access or sharing a world with Solar Opposites is more than likely.

6 Schwifty

Back in the pilot episode, there’s a poster that makes a super quick appearance in the background while Jesse and Yumyulack a talking in the hallway. As the two are talking about why all the other kids in school hate them, and how they wish they could be treated fairly, the poster is to the left of them just outside the principal’s office.

It reads “Schwifty Live Jazz Friday 7-8 pm,” obviously being a shoutout to Rick And Morty season 2, episode 5, “Get Schwifty.”  As obvious as the reference might be, the poster flies by and can be easily missed.

5 Interdimensional Cable

All the way back when the first season of Rick And Morty came out, they had an episode called “Rixty Minutes.” The episode introduced the concept of infinite television shows from an infinite possibility of realities. Boiling down all of Solar Opposites to being an episode within “Interdimensional Cable” is a bit reductive, but being a fan of Justin Roiland’s other intellectual property, it can be easy to see it while watching the pilot.

Justin Roiland is a creator that is full of ideas based in the sci-fi genre and he prides himself on having fun with these shows/concepts. Solar Opposites is a great original idea and change of pace, but the show never forgets its roots.

4 Squanchy

Although Fun-Bucket can be seen as a quirkier Rick Sanchez, he is also similar in appearance to another beloved character in the prior series. Fun-Bucket and Squanchy are both party animals, who also have the capability of sheer violence, but that seems to be their only shared personality traits.

The small animal sidekick persona is a common trend in animated titles and Justin Roiland is quick to play with the trope in this new original series. This one is extremely subtle, but it’s a total possibility that Roiland saw Rick Sanchez and Sqanchy and wanted to have fun with a mashup of the two.

3 Portals

Whether they lead to new dimensions or time periods, creator Justin Roiland’s use of portals is very present in this new original series along with his last. The use of portals can be seen in Fun-Bucket’s lab within the little boy’s basement in the pilot, or in the final magic trick that Korvo constructs in the third episode.

The most blatant use of portals can be seen in the final episode of the series, “Retrace-Your-Step-Alizer,” where Korvo and Terry must use time-traveling sneakers to head back to the past to find Korvo’s lost wallet on the planet “Shlorp.”

2 Picture Of Summer

In episode six of the series, “The P.A.T.R.I.C.I.A. Device,” Korvo and Terry’s new obsession is “Manc Aves” (man caves). Here they build a robot that hates man caves to give them the ability to have fun in theirs. Of course, this robot quickly turns violent, running around the neighborhood demolishing man caves and wounding the men within them.

During the destruction, though, about sixteen minutes into the episode, you can see a framed picture that strangely resembles Summer Smith from Rick And Morty. This one seems too blatant to be a coincidence, on top of being a very sneaky easter egg.

1 Picture Of Morty

As previously stated, episode three has many easter eggs stashed away in very clever spots, so catching two in one frame is more than fun. After Korvo reveals he didn’t die being torn apart by a black hole for a magic trick, he goes on to explain how he pulled off his deviant stunt.

In the office where he picks the actors for his scheme, a framed picture of a look-a-like Morty can be seen hanging on the right side of the wall. On top of the look-a-like Morty, on the upper left side of the wall you can also see Justin Roiland himself pictured. All of these references are subtle and hard to spot but can be caught during a re-watch which is always fun for fans.