“Vindicators 3: The Return of Worldender” Recap – Rick and Morty
By: Dylan Hysen
It’s finally time for the Vindicators! Dylan Hysen, Delaney Stovall, and Michelle Anderer recap the 4th episode of Season 3 of Rick and Morty, “Vindicators 3: The Return of Worldender”.
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Dylan Hysen
Dylan is a software developer from the DC area who hosts the Overly Animated podcast discussing everything animation.
6 Comments
Honestly I wasn’t feeling this one too much. I just never get a lot of enjoyment from parodies that seem intent on just destroying the things they’re parodying. That’s not to say there weren’t some good elements: Million Ants and Alan Rails were both creative ideas for characters imo, and Morty absolutely having Rick’s number on everything was both hilarious and awesome, and I kinda liked how the Vindicators exposed themselves better than Rick’s tests did, but the “dark side” to the Vindicators felt really forced, imo, and didn’t really seem to follow naturally from the concept of a super-hero parody. Like, why are they such assholes? Aren’t super heroes normally goody-two-shoes (I know there are exceptions, but not enough)? It also makes the conflict between them and Rick feel forced since both sides are selfish, narcissistic, and morally bankrupt, so there really isn’t much contrast to be had. Having the Vindicators be more like Silver-Age parodies would probably have better humor potential with them playing off of Rick’s dark nature. But then I guess they wouldn’t be able to murder the heroes in horrifically graphic ways while still calling it comedy. Which brings me back to my first point: it felt like these characters only existed to be murdered horribly, and that just makes it feel really petty and not very funny to me.
Sorry if I ranted a bit much, I just had to get this off my chest. Now time to actually listen to the podcast.
Ok, after listening to the podcast and being reminded of all the funny one-liners, I think I might appreciate the episode more, but I still feel like the parody aspect fell a little flat. I think a good contrast might be One Punch Man, which also parodies the super hero genre and in similar ways (the heroes are ineffectual narcissists and the main character can do their job with zero effort) but the jokes feel more natural both within the context of the genre and within the context of the narrative, and the characters are actual characters and not just slasher-movie victims.
What was very funny for me is that here in Brazil, The Avengers are called “Os Vingadores”, and their logo is almost exactly equal to the Vindicators one shown in the episode!
You can check it here: http://imgur.com/a/pw4gG
That’s awesome! Wonder if it was intentional at all
lets take a moment to appreciate how bad-ass Rick actually is. In just one night, he infiltrates the enemy stronghold (without setting or disabling any security measures?!) wipes out an army and places their bodies in various sex positions, takes down World Ender, sets up a series of saw(ish) death puzzles and booby traps, builds enough neutrino bombs to destroy the planet, a disneyland type ride for Noob-noob at the end AND a party for everyone to celebrate the defeat of World Ender….all while black out drunk!
what would he be capable if he was completely sober?
lol yeah it’s so much, almost unbelievable that he was able to do all that. And yeah this wasn’t the first time I’ve thought of what Rick might be capable of if he was not constantly drinking!