While it has already been confirmed that "Rick and Morty" season 4 is happening, the exact date of its release has yet to be decided. Fans are hoping that the fourth season of the hit cartoon series from Adult Swim will come up very soon, although it appears more likely that season 4 will premiere in 2019, or even later.

For now, no one has any specific idea regarding the possible premiere date of "Rick and Morty" season 4, not even the people involved in the show's production. Per Screen Rant, the upcoming season is affected by issues of contract negotiations, thus making the waiting period longer than anticipated. The prolonged talks for sealing a new contract deal can be blamed on Adult Swim, although it was pointed out that the huge media company that owns it, Turner Broadcasting, has a bigger role to play on this.

For starters, "Rick and Morty" co-creator Dan Harmon once confirmed that the contract negotiations for season 4 do not involve the people at Adult Swim, but the Turner executives. It is quite unbelievable that a very popular and critically acclaimed show like "Rick and Morty" would take years to spawn a new season.

At this point, it is speculated that there is an issue regarding the partition of revenue when the fourth season arrives. It could happen that Harmon and his co-producer Justin Roiland are still talking numbers with the network's higher-ups, and until now, they have yet to come up with a more acceptable agreement that will satisfy both parties.

In an interview with The Detroit Cast, "Rick and Morty" series writer Ryan Ridley seemed to confirm that there is an issue inside the network that is causing the season 4 delay. Ridley himself is also questioning the complicated production process, as well as Adult Swim's lack of action to speed up the negotiations. With this, it is nearly impossible that the viewers will see the fourth season this year. "Rick and Morty" could return in 2019, forbidding that there will be other issues for additional delay.

In other news, Adult Swim prepared a special teaser for the fans on April Fools' Day as a message was flashed on the screen to visit the network's official website. From there, a short episode titled "Bushworld Adventures" provided a source of entertainment for those who could not wait to see "Rick and Morty" return for a fourth season.