Fans of the hit animation Rick and Mortyhave threatened to boycott the series over its inclusion of controversial jokes about the bombing of Pearl Harbour and 9/11.
During a new episode of the series, called “Promortyus”, the characters Rick and Morty are seen flying towards two skyscraper towers, in a clear reference to the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre.
After swerving to avoid them, Rick quips: “Honestly, I’m proud of us for not.”
“Totally. Would have been cheap,” replies his sidekick, Morty. Rick then says: ”Pearl Harbour on the other hand...”, before flying towards an alien harbour and bombing it.
Later in the episode, the characters banter about the incident, with Beth, Rick’s daughter, asking: ”So, you did a 9/11?” And Morty replies: “Almost did a 9/11. We... we went with a Pearl Harbour. We’re pretty classy.”
Fans have taken to Twitter to voice their discomfort with the jokes.
“Is Rick and Morty still doing 9/11 jokes?” asked one viewer, sarcastically adding: ”because wow, that’s so funny in 2020.”
Others picked up on a different aspect of the joke, with one commenter writing: “everyone’s reacting to the 9/11 joke, personally I was fine with it until they Rick said ‘ask the Saudis’. Just adding fuel to the xenophobia of Islam and the middle east when you could’ve easily made a George Bush or US gov joke.”
Another fan wrote: “Boycotting Rick and Morty.”
“Promortyus” will air in the UK on E4 at 10pm on Thursday 14 May.
