'Rick and Morty' season 3 update: Season 3 to drop this year? Mr. Meeseeks returns?

Based on comments from the show's creators and writers, the hotly anticipated "Rick and Morty" season 3 could drop by the end of 2016.

Since "Rick and Morty" premiered to critical acclaim in 2013, the animated sci-fi comedy has gained a following, prompting Adult Swim to give it an early season 3 renewal after having only aired three episodes of its second season in 2015. "Rick and Morty" season 3 will consist of 14 episodes.

The season 3 premiere was previously thought to drop sometime in early 2017. This was based on a comment by Mr. Poopybutthole in the season 2 finale, in which the character said that the show will not return for another year and a half. This pointed to a March 2017 release.

However, "Rick and Morty" co-creator Dan Harmon contradicted this during an interview at the Magic City Comic Con last January. According to Harmon, they are targeting a yearend release for "Rick and Morty" season 3. This was supported by "Rick and Morty" writers Sarah Carbiener and Erica Rosbe, who recently said that season 3 is almost complete.

In an interview on the "Chicks Who Script" podcast in September, Carbiener and Rosbe said that they have finished the new episodes and already submitted them to Bardel Entertainment. The two also said that the animation studio should be done with the episodes soon and that in-house screenings could be held in a matter of weeks.

In an interview with Den of Geek, Harmon dropped a possible spoiler about the season 2 cliffhanger, which left Rick's fate in question.

"I don't think anybody wants to do a third season that simply spends a whole bunch of episodes dealing with a situation that we created at the end of the second season," he said. "So I think that's a non-spoiler way of saying things should be okay pretty quickly," he added.

In another interview with the news outlet, "Rick and Morty" co-creator Justin Roiland hinted at the possible return of the fan favorite Mr. Meeseeks.

"If we're going to do it, it has to be motivated by 'what do we know about the Meeseeks and what can we learn and open up the mythology,' instead of having Justin go 'I'm Mr. Meeseeks!'" he said.

Adult Swim has not officially announced the "Rick and Morty" season 3 release date. It is nonetheless expected to debut before the end of the year.