‘President Curtis’: Release Date, Plot, Cast and Everything Else You Need to Know About the Upcoming ‘Rick and Morty’ Spinoff
Adult Swim’s newest animated venture is stepping out of Rick Sanchez’s shadow and into the Oval Office. ‘President Curtis’ is set to premiere on Adult Swim on July 26, 2026 at 11:30pm EST, with each episode added to HBO Max the day after it premieres.
The series pulls a fan favorite supporting character out of the ‘Rick and Morty‘ universe and hands him his own show, complete with monster diplomacy and interdimensional chaos. ‘President Curtis’ is an upcoming American adult animated science fiction comedy series created by Dan Harmon and James Siciliano for Adult Swim, following President Andre Curtis and his staff as they respond to interdimensional, paranormal and other unexplained crises.
‘President Curtis’ Release Date and Premiere Time
The first episode arrives July 26 at 11:30 p.m. ET and PT on Adult Swim, immediately following ‘Rick and Morty”s season nine finale. That scheduling choice is not accidental, since Adult Swim clearly wants viewers to ride straight from one universe into the other without changing the channel.
‘President Curtis’ premieres July 26 at 11:30 p.m. ET and PT on Adult Swim, and arrives the next day on HBO Max. For anyone who prefers streaming over a late night cable block, that next day turnaround makes catching up painless.
This marks the third ‘Rick and Morty’ spinoff series, following ‘Vindicators 2’ and ‘Rick and Morty, The Anime.’ Given how differently those two spinoffs were received, ‘President Curtis’ arrives with its own set of expectations to clear.
The ‘President Curtis’ Cast Is Led by Keith David
Keith David reprises his role as Curtis, alongside Stephanie Beatriz and Jim Rash. David has been attached to the character for years, which gives the spinoff an odd sense of continuity despite being a brand new show.
Keith David and Jim Rash previously starred together on ‘Community,’ another Dan Harmon series, where David played Eloy Patashnik and Rash played Dean Craig Pelton. David and Stephanie Beatriz also previously voiced characters together on ‘Hazbin Hotel,’ playing Husk and Vaggie respectively.
That is not the only overlap either. David, Beatriz, and Rash all previously appeared together on ‘Krapopolis,’ another Dan Harmon series, voicing Asskill, Daphne, and Dionysus respectively. Harmon clearly has a trusted rotation of voice talent he keeps coming back to, and ‘President Curtis’ looks like the latest beneficiary of that loyalty.
David said in a press release that President Curtis has always been a blast to play, and that exploring his world more deeply in the new series is a dream, adding that he cannot wait for fans to see what kind of chaos Curtis stirs up when Rick is not around to steal the spotlight. It is a fitting sentiment for a character who has spent years stealing scenes as a background player.
What To Expect From the ‘President Curtis’ Plot
The synopsis follows the commander in chief and his eccentric staff as they tackle the kind of crises that Rick Sanchez could never be bothered with, from monster diplomacy to paranormal investigations and unexplained phenomena. That framing puts Curtis in the position of cleaning up the weirdness Rick simply ignores.
The character was originally created for the ‘Rick and Morty’ episode Get Schwifty as an unnamed stand in for then President Barack Obama, later given the surname Curtis in the show’s fifth season and the first name Andre in its seventh season. Harmon has said Curtis’ later appearances were influenced by Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and the idea of a cartoonishly bad president, with the character initially a composite of both figures before evolving into someone distinct.
According to Harmon, the tonal difference between the flagship series and the spinoff comes down to perspective rather than genre. In an exclusive interview with Deadline, Harmon compared the two shows to Doctor Who and The X Files, explaining that while Rick might take the collective hivemind Unity as a lover on a faraway planet, President Curtis is more likely to be found hunting the Loch Ness Monster or the Hodag on Earth, or traveling to the moon, which keeps the tonality consistent without being redundant.
Adult Swim first announced the series at San Diego Comic Con in July 2025, following a surprise appearance by David during the ‘Rick and Morty’ panel, and in July 2026, ahead of the premiere, the series was already renewed for a second season. That early renewal suggests Adult Swim is betting heavily on Curtis carrying his own weight outside the flagship show.
Critical Reception Ahead of ‘President Curtis’ Premiere
Early reactions have leaned positive. One review called ‘President Curtis’ an entirely enjoyable addition to Adult Swim’s lineup, suggesting the show offers a way to escape into an alternate existence where the president and his staff routinely battle vampires, witches, aliens, ghosts, and beyond.
The pilot episode screened at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, where Harmon and Siciliano made the announcement alongside co-creators. Screening a series premiere at one of the world’s biggest animation festivals is a strong signal of how much confidence Adult Swim has in the project.
Adult Swim president Michael Ouweleen said there is no better animation loving crowd than Annecy, calling it the perfect place to debut the new series, and adding that he cannot wait for everyone to see how great President Curtis is on his own when the series premieres. With a second season already locked in before episode one even airs, the network is clearly hoping Curtis becomes more than just a footnote to the Sanchez family’s adventures.
With Keith David back in the Oval Office and a Rick free universe to explore, how do you think President Curtis will hold up without Rick and Morty stealing his spotlight?
