Markiplier: From YouTuber to movie star

Markiplier (Mark Edward Fischbach), if you’ve not heard about him already, is a well-known YouTuber in the gaming community, mainly for his Let’s Play videos of indie horror games. His series of videos on the Five Nights at Freddy’s series contributed greatly to the franchise’s rise in popularity, leading him to be informally known as the “King of FNAF”.

Besides his content, Markiplier is also known for being charitable and generous, having hosted a vast number of fundraisers for various charities, such as Make-A-Wish America and the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance. He is very well-liked by fans and other creators, as he remains humble, kind, caring, and passionate for all he does, even after becoming hugely successful in his career.

Winning multiple awards, such as Celebrity of the Year 2016 by the Make-A-Wish Foundation, as well as Gamer of the Year and Best Scripted Series (with In Space With Markiplier) in the Streamy Awards, this YouTuber’s career journey has led him to great things. One of these was producing his own self-financed and self-scripted movie, Iron Lung, starring Markiplier himself.

I believe that his experience gained from producing these series had built-up to him making Iron Lung

His YouTube journey began back in 2o12, over 13 years ago, when he uploaded Let’s Play themed videos on his original channel. The first game he showed himself playing was Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

Markiplier then continuously produced content and garnered a huge following. He expanded beyond Let’s Play clips of him playing video games, producing content in different genres.

He and another creator, Ethan Nestor-Darling, also known as CrankGameplays, collaborated on a channel named Unus Annus (Latin for “one year”) where they uploaded videos daily, and deleted the channel at the end of one year.

Later on, Markiplier produced series starring himself, namely A Heist with Markiplier and In Space with Markiplier. These two series are unique as “choose-your-own-ending” type stories, where viewers are presented with two clips at the end of a segment to choose Markiplier’s next action in the story. I believe that the experience he gained from producing these series had built up to him making Iron Lung, which is set to release in theatres on 30 January 2026.

I am excited to see how Markiplier portrays the horror elements of the original game

The film, based on the game Iron Lung by David Szymanski, is set in the future, telling the story of a convict being sent in a submarine to explore an ocean of blood on a desolate moon. The player is sent on this mission as “The Quiet Rapture” had occurred, wiping out all known stars and habitable planets within the universe.

In the movie, this convict, played by Markiplier himself, is sent into the bloody ocean as a last-ditch effort to find vital resources and allow humanity to sustain itself. However, the second trailer for the movie begins with the line “this is not an expedition… it is an execution”, implying that a more sinister twist is behind the scenes.

I am excited to see how Markiplier portrays the horror elements of the original game, which play into thalassophobia (fear of deep or vast bodies of water) and claustrophobia (extreme or irrational fear of tight spaces), along with the fears of the unknown and of complete isolation.

Markiplier himself has thalassophobia, which may have been why the game Iron Lung resonated with him – having the fear himself also grants him unique insight for depicting it accurately within the film.

The environment in which Iron Lung is set in is relatively common, as claustrophobia or fear of the unknown are regular themes of horror games.

The sea of blood adds to the discomfort one would feel in that environment, and it is definitely a great element of fear to explore

Some examples of existing games with the theme of thalassophobia are Subnautica and What Lies Below. Iron Lung is different in the respect that, as the player, you are confined in a cramped submarine with no way out, and visibility is much more limited than in the aforementioned games. Looking at the trailers for the upcoming film, the sea of blood adds to the discomfort one would feel in that environment, and it is definitely a great element of fear to explore!

The film seems promising, and it’s fantastic to see more indie horror games being adapted into films

Personally, I am very hyped up for the film’s release, and I have high expectations for it. From what the game has shown, I am expecting the film to “dive” more into its horror themes (haha, get it?), but also have a main storyline of what’s really behind the scenes of the expedition unravelling, as the main character attempts to survive and look for freedom.

Markiplier’s Iron Lung seems promising, and it’s fantastic to see more indie horror games being adapted into films for the widespread audience. If you’ve been intrigued by what I’ve described of the film so far, definitely give the trailers a watch! And, as a Markiplier fan, it’s great to witness his content creation journey leading up to his own self-produced film – it’s definitely evidence of all the hard work he’s put in as a creator!