Although Morbius didn't quite make a"morbillion dollars" (as the memes say) at the box office, it has garnered a strong following online. However, it might not be for the reasons that the studio planned. The reason for Morbius suddenly gaining the #1 spot on Apple TV (per the official Morbius Twitter page) is thanks to all the hilarious memes.
This isn't the first time memes have turned bad movies into internet "classics," and in fact, movies have gained popularity and notoriety from jokes and memes for decades. While the creators may or may not love that their creations are, perhaps, more known for jokes than artistic merit, a movie ed is perhaps better than a movie lost to time.
Cars
There are plenty of viewers who unironically love the Cars franchise, but there's also a large part of the fanbase that latched onto it at least partially ironically. For example, the iconic voice of Owen Wilson makes Lightning's "Ka-chow!" infinitely quotable.
In addition to that, many s have pointed out how hilarious and surreal the implications of the Cars universe are. Many events that took place in our world, such as the Second World War (as mentioned in the spin-off, Planes), are blatantly shown to have happened in the Cars universe as well. This raises strange questions about the existence of dictators in Cars, war crimes, and other dark subject matter carried out by living vehicles.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2
Paul Blart: Mall Cop, and even more so its sequel, are touted as the epitome of bad straight-to-DVD juvenile comedies that rely on low-hanging slapstick humor. Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 has such a blatantly ridiculous title that audiences can't help but respect it.
So much so, that many memes do the ironic bit of claiming it is an "underrated cinematic masterpiece." Much like Morbius, fans on places like Reddit take the most ridiculous scenes from Paul Blart, then give satirical essays espousing their cinematic value. The contrast of academic prose with Kevin James falling out of a Segway is a unique experience.
The Wicker Man
The Wicker Man is the premier example of how putting Nicolas Cage in a bad movie elevates it to unintentional comedy. A reboot of a slow-burn, character-driven horror movie about a man trying to survive on a cult-controlled island is only ed for the funny bee scene.
Though, to be fair, it is an iconic scene in meme history, as recorded on Know Your Meme. Most critics of the time found it a misguided and boring affair until Nicolas Cage starts freaking out. People also like to bring up the hilariously odd scene of Nicolas Cage in a bear suit sucker-punching a random lady.
The Lorax
The Lorax was a critically panned adaptation of the classic Dr. Seuss book by Illumination studios. Nevertheless, it is yet another example of how the internet can latch onto a specific scene in a movie and run it into the ground for laughs.
The climactic "Let it Grow" musical number has spawned thousands of "YouTube poop" mash-up parodies. Parodies such as "Let it Grow, but it's awkward" or "Let it Grow, but Mr. O Hare Convinces The Town To Kill The Tree" on YouTube are only a handful of the creativity people have about an otherwise disappointing movie.
Spider-Man 3
Morbius is a meme'd Spider-Man villain, but Peter Parker himself is not immune from jokes. Spider-Man 3's plot point of the dorky Peter Parker suddenly acting "cool" was polarizing, to say the least. The premise was heavily criticized when it first came out.
However, as time went on, people realized that "Emo Parker" was an intentionally dorky example of what Peter thinks a cool person is like. Now in on the joke, many fans (like the folks over at r/raimimemes) have made memes calling "Emo Parker" an "alpha male" and editing his over-the-top walking and dancing into other movie scenes. Some memes even go as far as to make him the man who beats Thanos in Endgame.
Sharkboy and Lava Girl
Sharkboy and Lava Girl was the other kid's franchise that Robert Rodriguez started in the early 2000s. Unlike Spy Kids, this was a superhero film. Like Spy Kids, it also had terrible, terrible visual effects. Much of the CGI could have been mistaken for an episode of Beast Wars.
The campiness of the movie was eventually realized for the genius it was. Fans have since then started making memes of several scenes from the film, particularly of the character Linus, as documented on Know Your Meme. His over-the-top acting as a spoiled brat is so ridiculous it circles back into endearing.
Neil Breen (All of his Movies)
Neil Breen was once a little-known indie filmmaker until various content creators on YouTube brought attention to his work, as documented on Neil Breen as "the next Tommy Wiseau".
The comparison wasn't made lightly. Like Wiseau, Breen makes his movies almost entirely unaware of how people receive them. As they make it, they are convinced of their own "artistic talent". That combination of authenticity and lack of skill makes the movies so memorable. The movie that launched his meme status was his feature film Double Down.
The Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
For the longest time, the prequel trilogy has been called the "death of Star Wars" by many hardcore fans. The poorly planned out political aspects, the overly choreographed lightsaber fights, young Anakin himself, and Jar-Jar Binks were all sources of derision when the films were released.
However, the prequels have gotten a resurgence thanks to the sea of Star Wars memes brought by r/PrequelMemes. The sand rant, "Hello There", and even Jar-Jar himself have been redeemed in the eyes of many fans. Of course, the generation that grew up with the prequels is to thank for this, as their nostalgia allows them to enjoy the movies, flaws and all.
Bee Movie
Monsters vs Aliens, Bee Movie stood out with its absurd premises. Indeed, premises plural as the movie is practically three short movies.
Fittingly, the memes for Bee Movie are equally as confusing. Most of them are high effort pieces involving the entire Bee Movie script, with only slight variations. Other times, it's just Barry saying "ya like jazz?" with absurdly loud audio. The memes are just so weird that people can't help but be shocked into laughter.
The Room
The Room is arguably the father of modern bad meme movies. While there have been a plethora of bad movies before then, it was The Room that catapulted "bad movies" into stardom. Tommy Wiseau is to thank the internet's love of bad movies.
The alien-like delivery of the main star, Tommy Wiseau, is the biggest draw of the movie's memes. It spawned books, merchandise, and even a fully-fledged video game on Newgrounds. To this day, fans can quote any scene on command, making it a truly vintage meme of a movie.
