The Spider-Man movies Into the Spider-Verse and Across the Spider-Verse have inspired their fair share of memes lately, from the bagel effect to canon events and more.

But one of the latest memes to pop up following the release of the latest film is all about a cat version of protagonist Miles Morales named Meows Morales. But is this adorable, anthropomorphic kitty real? Here's what we know.

Is 'Meows Morales' Real and Where Does The Meme Come From?

Meows Morales is a real character in the Marvel universe that appears in a single 2019 issue of Spider-Man. The issue is Spider-Man Annual Vol 3, featuring a story about the alternate universe Spider-Man pig character Spider-Ham. During the story, Meows Morales swings into the window of a cafe while Spider-Ham talks with Howard the Duck.

Meows Morales appears prominently in a grand total of two panels in the comic and is seemingly killed in that very same issue as his whole realm is destroyed. He's never appeared in an issue since and laid mostly dormant in the minds of Spider-Man fans until June 2023, when a meme showing a cat climbing a wall captioned "Meows Morales" started going around. This led a Twitter user to dig up the panels and post them that month to viral acclaim, sparking a massive flood of fan art and memes.

How Is 'Meows Morales' Used In Memes?

The Meows Morales character inspired a ton of fan art and memes over the course of June 2023. The fan art largely depicts Meows Morales doing either typical heroic Spider-Man stuff or typical quirky cat stuff. Some of the artwork depicts Meows Morales interacting with other alternate universe Spider-Men.

In memes, some of the most viral examples apply Meows Morales to tried and true cat memes, redrawing the meme to feature Meows rather than the original cat. The internet loves cats and the internet loves Spider-Man, making for a notably viral combination online.

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For the full history of Meows Morales, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.