In a strange turn of events, Morbius went from being one the worst movies of 2022 to gaining cult status. Morbius had a very underwhelming premiere on April 1st, 2022, and is the latest film in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. The film received a mere 17% on Rotten Tomatoes and only garnered $136 million worldwide at the box office. By May 17, 2022, the film was available to stream on several platforms, including Vudu and Apple TV. Unexpectedly, it quickly began to climb the charts, becoming one of the most popular films on the platforms. What happened?
This is in large part because Morbius‘ appearance on streaming platforms sparked a revival of Morbius memes. In particular, viewers honed in on the catchphrase “morbin time.” The phrase is a play on words derived from the Power Rangers’ “Morphing time.” The catchphrase took hold over users across many social media platforms, who began sharing hundreds of memes imagining Morbius (Jared Leto) saying the fictional catchphrase. Soon, even businesses like KFC picked up on the Morbius memes to use in advertising. So the memes, coupled with everyone’s general awareness that Morbius had been panned and bombed, generated yet still more memes.
While most of us laugh at the Morbius memes and move on, others are taking it a little too far. Usually memes flair up and later die down, but Morbius remained trending on Twitter for multiple days due to the memes, jokes, and discussion around them. Not only that, but users began creating Twitch accounts to stream Morbius on repeat all day long. Even as these accounts started getting banned for streaming copyrighted material, more people created them and they frequently had as many as 1,000 people watching them. The desire for all things Morbius has only continued to grow. While the desire may be ironic nature, it’s creating a broader awareness of Morbius than almost anyone wants.
Fans demand Morbius 2
As Morbius trended for days straight, a lot of us jokingly warned that Sony was going to make a Morbius sequel because of the memes. Now, though, some fans are insisting that is exactly what they want. By May 29th, Morbius 2 was trending on Twitter as fans began petitioning for a sequel. Users fantasized about theater audiences completely losing it when Morbius says “morbin time” in Morbius 2. Others petitioned for Morbius to have his own entire universe and some fans thought of Morbius film titles up to Morbius 10. Check out some of the Tweets below:
Will Twitter actually manifest Morbius 2?
Despite some users making false claims that Morbius 2 has already been confirmed, it has not been greenlit nor is it titled Morbius: More Bius, nor has it cast Anya Taylor-Joy as Morbius’ sister. While the Morbius 2 posts are becoming increasingly hilarious, we still can’t help but question—will there really be a Morbius 2 because of meme culture?
So far, Sony hasn’t responded much to the Morbius craze taking over the internet. Ordering a sequel to a failed expensive movie only because of a meme that could easily die away wouldn’t be smart. Even so, the voice of the people certainly does hold some sway over studios, and free publicity is free publicity. If Sony decides that people aren’t just joking and that Morbius 2 could be profitable, it could happen. So, yes, there’s a small chance that Twitter users have manifested Morbius 2 and that an entire movie will be produced for no other purpose than to have Morbius say “morbin time.”
(featured: Sony)
