How The Hawaiian Punch Mascot Landed a Role in Rick and Morty Season 9 (Exclusive)

If Rick and Morty's multiversal hijinks have taught us anything, it's that nothing is ever off the table.

The notion of infinite realities, paired with a godlike being seemingly aware of his own fictional existence (a.k.a. Rick Sanchez), opens the door to gonzo storylines and characters—the likes of which audiences haven't quite seen before. Put simply, Adult Swim's animated sci-fi hit has conditioned us to expect the unexpected.

Season nine showed just how strange the series can get in the June 7 episode "Rick Fu Hustle," which featured a surprising cameo from the iconic Hawaiian Punch mascot, Punchy.

"The show itself has set such a high bar that we're always trying to, at minimum, live up to it," co-showrunner and executive producer Scott Marder recently told SYFY Wire in an exclusive interview. "But ultimately, we're all just trying to entertain ourselves. It's at that blue-sky phase. It’s like, 'Who's got the craziest idea that's just whipping everyone up into a frenzy?' That’s the goal of any given season. [Season] nine was plentiful in those ideas, which was really cool. We could feel it from a really early start."

How the Hawaiian Punch mascot ended up in Rick and Morty season nine

Penned by Rick and Morty writer-producer Rob Schrab ("A Rickconvenient Mort," "Night Family"), the latest episodes finds the titular duo (voiced by Ian Cardoni and Harry Belden, respectively) diving headlong into the world of martial arts after getting into a fender bender with a lethal kung fu master Liu Sin (clearly based on the Kill Bill character Pai Mei) in a Trader Joe's parking lot.

When Rick stubbornly refuses to exchange insurance information, the wizened warrior performs the "Five Point Exploding Heart Technique," meaning Rick's heart explode if he takes five steps forward.

"Shraab is ... probably our biggest cinephile," Marder explained. "So that particular episode for him is such a love letter to all the kung fu movies that he knows encyclopedically."

The smartest man in the universe not only finds a way to cure the fatal finishing move, but also reverse-engineers the entirety of martial arts. This culminates in an epic fight between Rick, Morty and Liu Sin, which angers Punchy, the Hawaiian Punch mascot, described by Sin as, "the ancient demon-god of hitting things and sweet drinks."

"That’s 100 percent Schrab," series co-creator, co-showrunner, and executive producer Dan Harmon said during the interview. "I didn’t know it was gonna be the Hawaiian Punch guy until we saw the animatic."

Added Marder: "That’s just giving everyone the freedom to express themselves in whatever way they can, and Shraab can be really silly. It made us laugh. You do not expect that coming."

What's really hilarious is the subtle, full-circle reveal that Sin lives right next-door to the Trader Joe's.

"He's a d--k," noted Marder. "He’s a bully. He goes there to pick fights ... We don't hang a spotlight on it, but the fight spills back into the Trader Joe’s parking lot. That guy could have totally walked."

Rick and Morty's season nine pool party

A still from Rick and Morty Season 9.

Photo: Courtesy of Adult Swim

In the episode's B-plot, Jerry (Chris Parnell) lands in hot chlorinated water after getting...intimate, let's say, with his automated pool vacuum, which becomes murderously obsessed with him—à la Fatal Attraction's Alex Forrest. He's able to resolve the situation before Beth (Sarah Chalke) gets home, but she learns of the robotic affair anyway.

What's more, she doesn't really care, referencing her own...uh, acquaintanceship with a hair dryer. That ability to shrug off her husband's foolish stupidity nevertheless speaks volumes to how far Beth has evolved since the earlier seasons when she came very close to divorcing Jerry.

"In season one, they just didn't treat each other very well," Chalke said. "Beth certainly didn't treat Jerry very well when they went to off-planet couples counseling, and you see how they visualize each other. She visualizes him as a worm. The whole journey of them in their rocky road to coming to where they are now—and then Space Beth joining the mix into their relationship—has been one of the most fun parts of playing Beth."

You might also be wondering when the Smith family got a pool. Well, you didn't miss anything. In fact, the backyard addition came as a total shock to the voice cast.

"I was like, ‘Did I miss the part where we got a pool last season?’" recalled Spencer Grammer (Summer) to SYFY. "It comes up often, and it's hilarious. You really make it when your family gets a pool ... Life changes when you have a pool."

Harry Belden (Morty) agreed: "You get a lot more friends, too, when you have a pool. You ever notice that? You become a lot more popular."

New episodes of Rick and Morty air on Adult Swim every Sunday at 11:00 p.m. ET.