Exclusive – Rick and Morty season 5 to feature Timothy Olyphant, Alison Brie and Christina Ricci

The series has become known for having famous faces voice the weird and wonderful characters in Rick and Morty’s adventures through time and space, with previous guests having included Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks, John Oliver, Christian Slater, Patton Oswalt and Werner Herzog.

Olyphant, Ricci and Brie’s involvement in season five was confirmed to RadioTimes.com by Spencer Grammer, who plays Morty’s sister Summer in the hit series. However, she kept secret who they will be playing and when.

In addition, Susan Sarandon will return as Dr Wong – the family therapist and ‘poop-eating specialist’ who helps Jerry (Chris Parnell) and Beth (Sarah Chalke) Smith through their marriage problems. She first appeared in season three’s Pickle Rick, providing insight into the family dynamic, particularly around volatile mad scientist Rick.

The Rick and Morty team team also revealed that, despite his huge public appeal to take part in an episode, Kanye West will not be involved in season five – though they added: "Never say never."

The new season kicks off on 20th June in the US with the episode Mort Dinner Rick Andre, where the Smith family are surprised with the arrival of Rick’s nemesis. While teen Morty continues his quest to win the affections of Jessica, Beth and Jerry find themselves in a ‘sex positive’ place as they focus on their marriage. As a result, things get awkward – really fast.

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Speaking to RadioTimes.com, Grammer and series co-creator Harmon said this will be a running theme for the series going forward. “There's a more familial-centric base [this season] where the entire family is working together, which is fun,” Spencer explained.

Harmon quipped: "We got that from a series of indie movies in the States called Fast & Furious. We found out by saying the word 'family', you can make 900 episodes of something. There was only three Smokey and The Bandits because they didn't say 'family'.”

Rick and Morty was renewed for 70 episodes back in July 2018, with only 10 airing so far.

Rick and Morty returns 20th June on Adult Swim and is coming to E4 later this month. Visit our Sci-fi hub for more news or find something to watch with our TV Guide.