Rick and Morty are back in new bloodsoaked short

Rick and Morty may not be returning for a fresh batch of season 4 episodes anytime soon, but we’ve got the next best thing: a surprise short filled with buckets of blood, your usual Adult Swim-style wackiness, and more ninjas than you can shake a samurai sword at.

The five-minute-long mini-episode (which you can watch for yourself above) dropped out of nowhere over the weekend and features the grandpa-and-grandson duo getting the anime treatment – complete with Japanese dub.

The bloodletting begins early in this one as Rick – dubbed “Rick WTM-72” – is surrounded by those wanting to take Shogun Morty off his hands. So he takes off their hands. And eyes. And face. A fair word of warning: it’s probably not for the squeamish.

Shogun Morty even gets in on the act by removing the shins of his foes, before Rick engages in a fight with a hulking brute ninja that can only be described as a Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice boss fight on speed. Then, there’s a hallucination dream sequence – which is probably influenced by something a little stronger than speed – as Rick and Morty make their escape.

Despite the Rick and Morty season 4 return date still evading us, the short continues the trend of new content from the world of the sci-fi show. It follows on from a series of surreal Rick and Morty teasers that had fans thinking new episodes might be imminent. Unfortunately, no dice – but this is a nice (if very bloody) compromise.

Relive the duo's finest adventures with our rundown of the best Rick and Morty episodes