This chapter ponders upon some of the ways and means of incorporating active tuning characteristics in resonant metamaterials. From a minimalist viewpoint, the demands posed by active tuning can be satisfied merely by inclusion of phase change materials (PCMs) as one of the constituents in the metamaterial unit cells. This couples the metamaterial dispersion to the PCM’s changing characteristics and offers a frugal way of inciting dynamic control in metamaterial absorbers. Furthermore, thanks to the incessant progress in the phase change material research, we are now equipped with a substantial inventory of externally controllable PCMs, such as those which can be controlled using thermal, magnetic, electrical, and optical stimuli. Depending upon their positioning in the metamaterial unit cell, the impact of change in the operating point location in the phase space can be manifested in a controlled fashion in the scattering characteristics of metamaterial absorbers. While we provide a succinct overview of many of the PCM-based strategies, the dominant focus of this chapter will be on reconfigurability originated from incorporating liquid crystals in the metamaterial unit cell. Particularly, we will discuss the thermal excitation-based phase transition phenomena experienced by liquid crystal elastomer films (their ordered and disordered arrangements) and investigate the prospects for exploiting it for tuning of metamaterial absorbers.