The Story Behind That Amazing Dinosaur Spider-Man Meme

In the pantheon of comic book heroes, there are few characters with better memes than Spider-Man. The memes from the 60s Spider-Man cartoon including the iconic finger-pointing meme, the Marvel Cinematic Universe memes, and all the memes that have popped up in modern times are mostly top notch. However, one meme stands above them all: one meme starring the dinosaur villain, Sauron.

First appearing in X-Men #59, Karl Lykos is bitten by mutant pterodactyls, which gave him the ability to drain the life force of other organisms. He later turns himself into a pterodactyl-like monster after draining Havok’s mutant energy and names himself after the Lord of the Rings villain. Sauron’s powers would come and go. In 2014’s Spider-Man and the X-Men, Sauron would use his powers for his own special plan.

In Spider-Man and the X-Men #2 by Elliott Kalan, Marco Failla, VC’s Clayton Cowles, and Ian Herring, Spider-Man becomes a faculty member at the Jean Grey School For Higher Learning teaching ethics after the death of Wolverine. Spider-Man and his class are ambushed by Stegron, Marvel’s other human-turned-dinosaur, and Stegron, who takes them to the new Savage Land. Spidey and the X-Men fight some dinosaurs before Sauron reveals his evil plan: He wants to turn more people into dinosaurs.

Here’s where the meme comes in. Sauron tells Spider-Man his intentions, and is asked: “You can rewrite DNA on the fly, and you’re using it to turn people into dinosaurs? But with tech like that, you could cure cancer.” Sauron now infamously responds that the charge may be true. But Sauron doesn’t want to cure cancer: “I want to turn people into dinosaurs.”

The plan seems to work, as Sauron successfully turns Glob into a triceratops. However, Sauron and Stegron end up fighting over both credit of their plan and Shark-Girl’s attention and ultimately stop each other. Spider-Man and his students change Glob back into his previous form and start their next assignment. The moment between Spider-Man and Sauron is great for a bunch of reasons, but most specifically, it’s a villain admitting he’s doing villain things because he can. Sauron doesn’t want to cure cancer, he wants to turn people into dinosaurs. You have to respect his gumption. The moment has gained credence in today’s times, as the meme is often used when billionaires are reported doing lavish things instead of investing their money into meaningful, helpful solutions for those in need.

For better or worse, the meme is likely to stay relevant for a while. It’s hard to imagine Kalan expected this particular panel to be so notable years after he wrote it. But, Sauron’s delivery and the message are memorable and meme-worthy. Spider-Man tried to get him to do the right thing, but Sauron just wanted to keep making more people into dinosaurs. Can you blame him?

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Liam McGuire
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Lead writer for Screen Rant’s comic team. [email protected]. Find me on Twitter @LiamRMcGuire for comic news and reporting.

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