Before Shrek became the face of ironic memes, Shrek the movie franchise was quite popular. So popular, in fact, that Dreamworks put out four of the suckers (with diminishing returns), but the character's enduring presence in the cultural landscape has made some people, whether ironically or otherwise, clamor for a fifth Shrek film ever since Forever After dropped in 2010.

The memes appear to no longer be dreams, as Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri recently stated that Shrek 5 is in the early stages of development with original cast members Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy showing "tremendous enthusiasm" for the project.

In an interview with Variety, Meledandri (who is also a creative partner with Dreamworks) said, "We anticipate the cast coming back. Talks [about Shrek 5 ] are starting now, and every indication that we’ve gotten is there’s tremendous enthusiasm on behalf of the actors to return."

Eddie Murphy has gone on record saying that he would do another Shrek in "two seconds" if Dreamworks wanted, and Meledandri posited that Donkey could potentially get his own spinoff movie a la Puss in Boots.

The tease of a Shrek 5 was enough to send the internet into a frenzy, even if the movie isn't confirmed to be in production as of now.

The way the whole cast wants to come back for shrek 5 REAL CINEMA IS BACK 🙌🏽😭 #shrek5 pic.twitter.com/MXJab6gqiC

— 𝙶𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚎✖️✖️//💥⏳🥀🐉 (@giselleb1234) April 4, 2023

If Shrek 5 happens, it would certainly be a full-circle moment for a generation that grew up on the films and then spent a decade absolutely massacring every frame of every movie for memes.