bombed at the box office again after returning to theaters for the second time. It only earned its re-release after a flood of memes demanded it - and Sony delivered. But, it is difficult to undo the damage from the poor reviews to its underwhelming 163.8 million box office performance (via Box Office Mojo), and the memes cannot save the film's disastrous fate.
Nevertheless, fans continue to reminiscence on this Morbius trend - #It'sMorbinTime. These funny memes continue to mock the film for its faults, from silly blue blood seeping from vampires' mouths to Jared Leto's involvement.
You're Going To Watch Morbius Again, Right?
This re-works a popular meme format from a scene in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones. Despite the wave of jokes and memes that had the now infamous phrase trending, it seems that no one really intended to watch Michael Morbius drink blue blood a second time.
The meme accurately describes the hilarious response from "fans" of Morbius after the #it'smorbintime swept through the internet, and Sony decided to re-release Morbius to 1000 theaters. Though many have speculated that Sony didn't see the irony in the memes, it's still unclear why Sony decided to re-release it.
Empty Seats
Once social media heard how little money the re-release made, all meme bets were off. Many made fun of how empty the theaters must have been on re-release day, prompting memes like the one above.
According to Forbes, Morbius only made 85,ooo on the day it re-released. This led to speculation that, per theatre, the movie couldn't have sold more than $100 dollars worth of tickets.
The Sony-verse
This fun meme takes advantage of the shared universe between Spider-Man and Morbius. Screenshots from the Morbius- the living vampire- stares down an enemy to become an entire separate meme.
The meme accurately sums up many internet s' experiences when they encounter this trend. No matter where they are on the internet, somewhere out there is a Morbius meme. Right when they least expected it, scrolling through any irrelevant tag, they'll probably come across Michael Morbius, some way or another.
Morbius vs. Everything Everywhere All At Once
There were also memes that sarcastically claimed the movie was a hit among fans. These tongue-in-cheek memes were what prompted Sony to re-release the film, under misguided ideas that it would have better numbers.
This meme shows that moviegoers went to watch Morbius over the A24 film, an estimated 75 million dollar budget-- not a complete failure.
Darth Maul Meme
This meme highlights another comic book role of Jared Leto's. Leto previously starred as Mr. J/The Joker in 2016's Suicide Squad. The actor ended up garnering a lot of criticism from fans for his method acting style and staying in the "Mr.J" persona for the duration of his time on set.
Famously, it was revealed that Jared Leto sent actress Margot Robbie a live rat as a gift, and the incident was perceived negatively for quite some time.
Phase Morbius
People are also poking fun at the MCU, which arguably has a death grip on the superhero genre for a little over a decade. Ever since Iron Man released in 2008, Disney has made at least one film per year based on a Marvel character, as part of it's "Marvel Phases" strategy.
As for Morbius, it is a Sony-owned character, so it chances in the MCU are slim. But, this hilarious meme utilizes the famous MCU phase scheduler to input Morbius in every date - as part of the initial re-release campaign.
Spy X Morbius
In a popular meme format derived from the manga adorable character, Anya Forger, from Spy X Family is shown yelling "Anya is Morbin'!" a fun reference to Anya's telepathic powers in the slice of life anime.
The catchphrase is easily modifiable, allowing everyone to participate in on the fun. Multiple other meme formats include a variety of manga characters drawn by fans, original characters, and even Thomas the Tank Engine, who apparently, also knows how to "morb."
The Morbs
Everyone loves a meme with layers; based off of a previously popular meme titled "Pondering my Orbs", this meme hilariously replaces the wizard orb with the Jekyl-and-Hyde-esque poster from the movie.
The "Pondering My Orbs" meme was originally a sort of meme template that could play on anything-- from iring one's body parts to having a relatable thought, wizard style. In the film's context, it's an anthropologically meta take on the memes surrounding the film - not to mention punny.
We're All In This Together
It seems the jokes at Sony's expense keep on coming. Despite the onslaught of Morbius memes, sardonic attitudes toward it kept movie theaters empty and the "it'smorbintime" hashtag trending. This meme, utilizing screenshots from Naruto, shows the global attitude towards Morbius between those who have and have not yet seen the movie.
Morbius flopped, lost money, and was a financial and critical disappointment. But for the majority of the internet, every fan artist and meme maker, every tweeter and reblogger, there was something special about the film after all. Despite the silly blue blood, Matt Smith's cringe dance number and the film as a whole brought people together.
