# It's Morbin Time
"It's Morbin' Time" is a fictional catchphrase attributed to Jared Leto's character in the 2022 superhero film *Morbius*, despite never actually appearing in the movie. The phrase, a play on the Power Rangers' "It's Morphin' Time," became the centerpiece of an ironic meme movement that mocked the film's critical and commercial failure. The meme's popularity grew so large that Sony Pictures re-released *Morbius* in theaters, mistaking internet mockery for genuine demand, only to suffer an even more embarrassing box office flop.
## Origin
The phrase traces back to November 2, 2021, months before the film even released. Twitter user @talestoenrage posted a tweet wondering if the comic book character Morbius tried out catchphrases like "morbing around" or "time to morb"[4]. That same day, Twitter user @rhidaneelolivaw replied with "it's morbin time"[6]. The tweet got zero traction at the time and wasn't discovered until May 2022, when meme archaeologists tracked it down as the earliest known use[6].
The phrase didn't go viral until after *Morbius* hit theaters on April 1, 2022, opening to weak box office numbers and brutal reviews[5]. On April 2, Twitter user @Rank10YGO posted: "the best part of Morbius was when he said 'IT'S MORBIN' TIME' and morbed all over those guys." That tweet pulled in over 11,000 retweets and 121,000 likes within a month[4], and the meme took off.
- **Platform:** Twitter (earliest phrase), Twitter / Reddit (viral spread)
- **Creator:** @rhidaneelolivaw (first known use of phrase), @Rank10YGO (viral tweet that launched the meme)
- **Date:** 2021 (earliest use), 2022 (viral spread)
## Overview
"It's Morbin' Time" is built on a simple joke: fans pretended that the character Michael Morbius says this line in the 2022 Sony film *Morbius* as a dramatic battle cry. He doesn't. The phrase is a riff on the Power Rangers catchphrase "It's Morphin' Time," with some also connecting it to The Thing's "It's Clobberin' Time" from Fantastic Four comics[1]. The humor comes from the confident, deadpan insistence that this line exists in a movie most people making the joke had never seen[2].
The meme belongs to a broader tradition of inventing fake aspects of *Morbius*, including fabricated box office records ("one morbillion tickets"), doctored Rotten Tomatoes scores, and the hashtag #MorbiusSweep[2]. "Morb" itself became a flexible verb. You could "morb out," things could be "morbin'," and the fictional currency was the "morbillion"[9].
## How It Spread
The meme spread in distinct waves across platforms through mid-2022.
**Phase 1: Pre-release irony (early 2022).** Before the film dropped, social media users started posting exaggerated praise for *Morbius*, proclaiming it would outclass the MCU so thoroughly that Phase 4 would grind to a halt[2]. This was already tongue-in-cheek, setting the stage for what came next.
**Phase 2: Post-release mockery (April 2022).** After the film flopped, photoshopped Rotten Tomatoes scores and edited Wikipedia pages showing *Morbius* as the highest-grossing film of all time flooded social media[2]. The hashtag #MorbiusSweep trended, sarcastically declaring the film's unstoppable box office domination while *Sonic the Hedgehog 2* was actually beating it[2]. People photographed empty theaters showing the film and posted them as evidence of its "record crowds."
**Phase 3: "It's Morbin' Time" takes over (May 2022).** On May 7, Twitter user @ElvisTheAlienTV posted a variation imagining Morbius appearing at the end of *Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness*, earning over 12,000 retweets and 143,000 likes in four days[4]. On Reddit, the phrase became a go-to title on r/whenthe, with posts pulling thousands of upvotes[4]. By this point, "morb" had entered the vocabulary as a catch-all verb for chaotic or nonsensical action[9].
**Phase 4: Sony takes the bait (June 2022).** In early June, Sony re-released *Morbius* in over 1,000 theaters, interpreting the meme activity as genuine audience demand[1]. The re-release earned a reported $85,000 on its opening Friday, roughly $85 per theater[9]. *Forbes* reported a weekend total of around $300,000[8]. The internet had effectively tricked a major studio into losing more money on a movie people were laughing at, not asking to see[3]. A new wave of jokes followed, with fans sarcastically telling Sony they were "busy that weekend" and suggesting the studio try releasing it again[1].
**Phase 5: Jared Leto leans in.** Leto eventually acknowledged the meme by posting a video on Twitter showing himself reading a script titled *Morbius 2: It's Morbin' Time*[1][8]. The move was taken as good-natured but didn't revive the meme's peak energy.
## How to Use
The "It's Morbin' Time" format is flexible and typically follows a few common patterns:
1. **The fake quote:** State with total confidence that "It's Morbin' Time" is a real line from *Morbius*. Describe a dramatic scene where Morbius says it before attacking his enemies. The more specific and serious the delivery, the funnier it reads.
2. **The verb form:** Use "morb" as a verb in any context. "I morbed all over that exam." "He's morbing out right now." The word works as a substitute for almost any action, especially chaotic ones.
3. **The crossover:** Photoshop or edit the phrase into other media. Put it in the speech bubble of unrelated characters, edit it into scenes from other movies, or insert Morbius into memes from completely different franchises.
4. **The fake stats:** Claim *Morbius* broke box office records, won awards, or sold "one morbillion tickets." The more absurd the number, the better.
## Cultural Impact
The meme's most significant cultural impact was demonstrating how internet irony can be misread by corporations. Sony's decision to re-release *Morbius* based on meme activity became a widely cited example in marketing and media circles of confusing engagement with demand[9]. The re-release's $300,000 opening weekend proved that trending hashtags don't translate to ticket sales[8].
Jared Leto's video referencing *Morbius 2: It's Morbin' Time* showed a rare case of the subject of a meme playing along gracefully, though it was seen as too late to change the narrative[1]. Marvel Comics' inclusion of the phrase in an official Halloween video effectively canonized a joke that was created specifically to mock one of their properties[7].
The *Morbius* saga also influenced how studios and analysts interpreted social media data for subsequent films. The film's journey from box office bomb to meme to re-release failure to Netflix number one illustrated how modern audiences relate to media they consider bad: they don't ignore it, they repurpose it into entertainment on their own terms[9].
## Fun Facts
- Twitter user @rhidaneelolivaw coined the exact phrase "it's morbin time" on November 2, 2021, nearly five months before the film released, as a casual reply that got zero engagement at the time[6].
- The *Morbius* re-release earned roughly $85 per theater on its opening Friday, making it one of the worst wide re-releases in modern box office history[9].
- Many of the most prolific "It's Morbin' Time" posters openly admitted they had never seen *Morbius* and had no intention of watching it[1].
- *Morbius* received five Golden Raspberry Award nominations including Worst Picture, with Jared Leto winning Worst Actor and Adria Arjona winning Worst Supporting Actress[5].
- The meme's ironic hype was so convincing that a real concern emerged among fans: that enough attention might trick Sony into greenlighting *Morbius 2*[2].
## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is "It's Morbin' Time"?
"It's Morbin' Time" is a fictional catchphrase that internet users attributed to the character Michael Morbius in the 2022 Sony film *Morbius*. The line never appears in the actual movie and was invented as part of a larger ironic meme movement mocking the film[4].
### Where did "It's Morbin' Time" come from?
The earliest known use was a November 2, 2021 tweet by @rhidaneelolivaw replying to a joke about Morbius catchphrases[6]. It went viral after @Rank10YGO tweeted on April 2, 2022 that "the best part of Morbius was when he said 'IT'S MORBIN' TIME' and morbed all over those guys," earning over 121,000 likes[4].
### What does "It's Morbin' Time" mean?
The phrase is a play on the Power Rangers catchphrase "It's Morphin' Time"[1]. It's used ironically to pretend that *Morbius* is a beloved, iconic film with a memorable battle cry, when in reality the movie was critically panned[2].
### How do you use "It's Morbin' Time"?
The most common usage is to confidently state that the phrase is a real line from the movie, often describing an epic scene where Morbius says it before fighting villains. You can also use "morb" as a verb in any context for comedic effect[4].
### Is "It's Morbin' Time" still popular?
The meme peaked in mid-2022 during the film's theatrical run and re-release. While no longer at its height, the phrase is still widely recognized and referenced as a classic example of ironic internet humor[3].
### Does Morbius actually say "It's Morbin' Time" in the movie?
No. The phrase was entirely invented by internet users as part of the joke of fabricating aspects of *Morbius* that don't exist[4].
### Why did Sony re-release Morbius?
Sony observed massive social media activity and trending memes about the film and interpreted this as genuine audience demand. They re-released *Morbius* in over 1,000 theaters in June 2022, but it earned only around $300,000 on its opening weekend because the attention was ironic mockery, not real interest[8].
### How much did the Morbius re-release make?
The re-release earned approximately $85,000 on its first Friday, roughly $85 per theater, with a weekend total of around $300,000 from over 1,000 locations[9][8].
### Did Jared Leto respond to the meme?
Yes. Leto posted a video on Twitter showing himself reading a screenplay titled *Morbius 2: It's Morbin' Time*, playing along with the joke[1].
### Did Marvel make "It's Morbin' Time" official?
Marvel Comics created a stop-motion Halloween video in late 2022 that featured a toy Morbius as a DJ saying the phrase, which some argued made it part of Marvel canon[7].
### What was the Morbius Sweep?
#MorbiusSweep was a sarcastic hashtag proclaiming *Morbius* was dominating the box office and headed for awards glory, used alongside fake statistics and doctored screenshots[2].
### How did the Morbius meme affect later Sony films?
The *Morbius* meme established a pattern where audiences would latch onto awkward moments in poorly received Sony-Marvel films. *Madame Web* (2024) saw similar treatment, with commentators noting it followed "the Morbius blueprint"[9].
## References
1. [Morbin' Time Explained: How This Morbius Meme Birthed A Monster]()
2. [It's Morbin' Time: How Morbius Became A Meme]()
3. [The Origin of the 'It's Morbin' Time' Meme]()
4. [It's Morbin Time - Know Your Meme]()
5. [Morbius (film)]()
6. [It's Morbin Time - Urban Dictionary]()
7. [Morbius Fans Find First "It's Morbin Time" Tweet]()
8. [Marvel Just Made Morbius' "It's Morbin Time" Meme Official Canon]()
9. [Here Are All Those 'Morbius' Memes From Twitter, Explained]()
10. [How the It's Morbin Time Meme Broke the Internet and Tricked a Movie Studio - Thepilotworks]()
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Source: https://meme.com/memes/its-morbin-time
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