We Might Have Successfully Memed “Morbius” Back Into Theaters

Kelsey Weekman
·4 min read
We Might Have Successfully Memed “Morbius” Back Into Theaters

Morbius instantly became a meme when it first premiered, purely because it is a joy to mock online, and two months later, memes might have revived the "living vampire" movie.

The Marvel film's release was delayed six different times before finally coming out in the shadow of Spider-Man: No Way Home, a massive critical and box office hit. In contrast, Morbius was a flop both commercially and with critics, but jokes about no one seeing it, fake phrases — "it's Morbin time" — and irony online have become the film's biggest successes.

Now, as @ERCboxoffice first reported, Morbius screenings have been added to more than 1,000 theaters for the weekend of June 3.

Sony did not respond to a request for comment about the movie's theatrical return and whether it was directly related to the online meme machine sparked by the film.

From the first trailer for Morbius, which stars Oscar winner Jared Leto as a doctor who infuses himself with bat DNA that grants him magical powers, people were skeptical that a movie about a little-known supervillain would actually be good. And it's not.

There was also a Discord server created by Sony that quickly went off the rails.

According to Know Your Meme, Morbius memes first appeared in October 2021 and took off in March 2022 when Twitter users started ironically calling for Morbius to sweep awards season.

What's interesting about the sudden resurgence of Morbius showings is that so far people haven't attending the film's current showings. According to Box Office Mojo, only 83 screens played the film over Memorial Day weekend and earned only $35,360 (for context, the newly released Top Gun: Maverick brought in $156 million).

When Morbius topped VOD charts in May, TikTok and Twitter users started joking about their hope for a sequel.

Some are concerned that because of all the social media buzz, it could actually happen — the film might have flopped at the box office, but people are still paying money to morb in the comfort of their own homes.

Some concerned Twitter users have urged Morbius meme enthusiasts not to see the movie in theaters as a joke because an integral part of the meme is the fact no one has actually seen it (even though people keep streaming it on Twitch).

We recommend the free option: Continue to enjoy Morbius memes online (without giving Jared Leto any more money) and create an alternate plot for the movie in your head before brands ruin all the fun.

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