Strawberry Loft

Through hard work, charm, skill, and a passion for creating, Markiplier leaves the confines of his YouTube channel, ending up on the silver screen. Iron Lung was first announced by Markiplier on April 21st, 2023, and it’s set to debut January 30th, 2026, a fantastic start to next year. Taking the reins on this project, Markiplier wrote, directed, and starred in Iron Lung, turning down a role in Five Nights at Freddy’s to turn his bloody dream into a reality.

Since day one, Markiplier has been boasting about the gallons of blood used in Iron Lung for practical reasons. Iron Lung is an indie horror game about all stars and habitable planets disappearing without warning, leaving humans aboard airships and space stations suddenly stranded. Space lives up to its reputation as an infinite void, leaving humanity with finite time. When a moon suddenly appears, researchers are eager to explore in hopes of finding answers to the Quiet Rapture. Instead, what awaits them is a sea of human blood. If Markiplier went with practical effects, and a submarine needs to go down into a sea of blood, I see why he boasted about Iron Lung having the most blood used in the film. Officially, Iron Lung used 80,000 gallons of fake blood, overtaking 2013’s Evil Dead, which used 50,000 gallons.

Iron Lung has the potential to be horrifying, relying mostly on sound and cramped spaces like the game. It plays with the unknown and being defenseless against threats much larger than yourself. The creaking submarine and eerie, grainy, blurry photos being taken by the player all slowly wind up to one jump scare with a huge payoff.  I trust Markiplier, who is openly afraid of deep water, to bring that slow crawling fear to life. To make the audience members who may not fear dark water understand why he hates it. I’m expecting a skin-crawling experience.

Markiplier has slowly worked his way up to this monumental moment, producing choose-your-own-adventure shorts, A Date with Markiplier, A Heist with Markiplier, and most recently In Space with Markiplier. I’m starting to wonder if stranded in space is his favorite genre… In Space with Markiplier was the largest project co-produced with Rooster Teeth at the time. These video concepts were revolutionary at the time, letting audience members choose a video response and see the outcome. It was a choose-your-own-adventure game.

Moving from YouTube to television, Markiplier starred in The Edge of Sleep, an Amazon Prime television show based on a narrative podcast he starred in. Markiplier’s ambitions got even bigger as his skills and knowledge of the film industry grew.

When the release date for Iron Lung was first revealed, fans were disappointed by the limited number of theaters the film would be shown in. Markiplier let fans know that they could request the film come to their theater. Markiplier made a video expressing overwhelming joy as fans flocked to the Iron Lung website, crashing it, and as a result, Iron Lung premiered in 2,000 theaters. Markiplier has created such a supportive and caring community that wants to see him succeed as his projects continue to grow. I think he puts so much care into each project, no matter the size, and the audience can feel his passion. With all this success, he remains relatable, which resonates with a lot of his audience.

Jacksepticeye—Markiplier’s Iron Lung co-star—revealed on social media he’s the executive producer of the independent horror film Godmother. This post came with some behind-the-scenes photos. I like the ancient ritual cult vibes it’s giving from the photos of what might be the main actress dressed in ceremonial-looking clothing. I’m thinking it might be an anti-Christ type of story from the very little we know so far. I hope the project runs smoothly and we learn more soon.

I’m planning on trying to see Iron Lung in the theater near me; I think tickets might be hard to get. Being a horror gamer for years who picks apart and analyzes the stories of games he enjoys, I think Markiplier has his pulse on what scares people. I think Iron Lung will be bone-chilling with fewer jump scares, having tight claustrophobic shots mixed with uncertainty, just like the game. I’m kind of expecting a grainy filter over the film or something to give it the same retro look as the game. Markiplier, using his own fear of deep water, will elevate the horror experience for viewers with a sense of realism in his acting as he descends, possibly into a pool of blood. With not much dialogue, Iron Lung Markiplier has to put a lot into environmental storytelling. Figure out if Iron Lung is playing in a theater near you!