Why Mr. Nimbus From Rick And Morty Season 5 Sounds So Familiar
Season 5 of "Rick and Morty" features the debut of Mr. Nimbus, the arch-nemesis of Rick (Justin Roiland) and, much like Moriarty is the arch-nemesis of Sherlock Holmes, Mr. Nimbus matches Rick's intellect and ability to create all sorts of crazy machines and weapons. The two had previously signed a treaty in which Rick occupies the Earth's land while Mr. Nimbus lives in the ocean, but Rick accidentally breaks the treaty when Morty (Roiland) crash-lands their space cruiser in the sea. This causes Mr. Nimbus to rise from the ocean in a giant seashell and insist that he come to Rick's house to negotiate a new treaty. As can be expected, hijinks ensue.
However, you might have noticed that the voice of Mr. Nimbus sounds strangely familiar. That's no mistake, as his voice actor is none other than that of Dan Harmon, the series' co-creator and showrunner. With Roiland voicing Rick, it's fitting for his nemesis to be voiced by the other co-creator.
Here are some titles in which you may have heard Harmon's voice before.
Dan Harmon voices multiple characters within Rick and Morty
You don't even need to have seen any other shows with Dan Harmon in them in order to have heard his voice before, as he's voiced multiple other characters within "Rick and Morty" itself! The most notable character Harmon voices is Birdperson, having been transformed into the evil cyborg Phoenixperson as of the "Rick and Morty" Season 4 finale. The character has appeared in every season of the show so far, first acting as Rick's best friend and partner-in-crime, before being nearly killed and transformed into Phoenixperson, who is programmed to kill Rick.
However, Harmon has also voiced multiple smaller roles within the show as well. This includes Davin, Beth's (Sarah Chalke) co-worker who attempts to hit on her; Jerry's boss, Mr. Marklovitz; Kevin, who helped supervise a simulation for Rick to live in without knowing it was a simulation; and Ice-T, the rapper we all know who is actually an alien known as Water-T. Did we mention this is a weird show?
Harmon also sings in a few original songs within the show, including the "Flu Hatin' Rap," "Camping" and "Glory to Glorzo."
Although primarily a writer, Dan Harmon has also acted in a few other titles
Dan Harmon has made the biggest impact as a comedic writer, most notably creating and writing for the popular sitcom "Community" before starting "Rick and Morty." However, he's also made a number of appearances in other media in between writing for these shows. One of the earliest series he appeared in was "Computerman," a web series he also created in 2003, in which he plays protagonist Eugene Murzowski, who inadvertently creates the ridiculous cyborg Computerman (Jack Black).
One of his next acting gigs was in the 2007 comedy sketch show "Acceptable.TV," in which he and Rob Schrab would write, produce and act in mini-episodes and viewers would vote online for which series to continue. One of the most popular series was "Mr. Sprinkles" created by Justin Roiland, one of the earliest instances of the two working together before "Rick and Morty."
Harmon also voiced Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde in the 2010 cartoon "Mary Shelley's Frankenhole," had a cameo as a clerk in "Arrested Development," and played the character Cartwright in the 2018 film "Seven Stages to Achieve Eternal Bliss."
You may have also heard Harmon's voice when speaking as himself
As a successful comedian and showrunner, it's also possible you recognize Dan Harmon's voice simply from the number of interviews he's done, as well as the number of shows he's hosted, many of which feature his name in the title. He hosted the podcast "Harmontown" from 2012 to 2019 alongside Jeff B. Davis in which he and guests talked about all sorts of personal and global issues. Among his guests were Robin Williams, Kumail Nanjiani, Aubrey Plaza and more. A documentary about the podcast's production was also made in 2014.
Harmon also hosted a comedy show for the History channel in 2016 called "Great Minds with Dan Harmon," in which he would bring historic geniuses to the present day in order to interview them, including Beethoven (Black), Mary Wollstonecraft (Plaza), Amelia Earhardt (Kristen Schaal). In 2016, he started another comedy show called "HarmonQuest," in which he and others would play Dungeons and Dragons while improvising hilarious scenarios, also featuring new guest characters for each episode.
New episodes of "Rick and Morty" air Sundays at 11 p.m. ET on Adult Swim.