Of Course Hannibal Has the Best Cake Memes

NBC’s Hannibal has been beloved for years in fandom, but the show’s recent addition to Netflix saw its popularity hit new highs. Many folks are getting to watch Hannibal in its entirety, leading to a reenergized surge of Hannibal-related content on social media. So it’s fitting that the Internet’s obsession with cake memes as of late would take hold amongst Hannibal fans, since food jokes fit well with a show about a cannibal who is also an exacting gourmand.

If you missed it, the Internet at large has been gripped by “everything is cake” mania, after videos of realistic-looking fondant cakes—from toilet paper to pizza to soda cans—went viral. This unleashed a wave of memes such as I’ve never seen before; our existential crisis over what could be cake or not fits well with the generally unhinged nature of 2020. I suppose it was inevitable that Hannibal‘s rise would fast intersect with cakes. While the title character is an unabashed cannibal, the series presents dazzling scenes of food preparation that render cooking as high art. Hannibal and “anything could be cakes” were meant to be.

As a caveat, if you haven’t yet watched Hannibal, some big spoilers lurk within these posts. Let’s revisit those illusion cakes first, then sample some of the delicious memes out there.

One popular repurposing of two memes for the price of one mixes in the “explain this one to future generations” meme “Wait, It’s All Ohio? Always Has Been” setup, which generally sees two astronauts looking down at Earth, one astronaut pointing a gun at the other’s head.

Now Hannibalize it.

There’ve been a few plays on this meme.

Some of the Hannibal memes also add in a dash of “Hannigram,” the ship name for Hannibal Lecter/Will Graham, or “murder husbands” as the series itself dubbed them.

And, I mean, if Hannibal and Will were dating, it might go something like this.

It turns out some of this Hannibal/cake stuff was ready-made to be meme’d.

He has to be sure, after all.

But what IF Will was actually cake this whole time???

Really, everything about Hannibal just lends itself to our cake preoccupation.

There’s fun to be had with the whole Hannibal fam, not just Hannibal and Will. Just ask Doctor Chilton:

How can Hannibal know if Jack Crawford is or isn’t cake unless he tests the theory?

JUSTICE FOR BEVERLY!!!

Truly, Hannibal’s baking artistry knows no bounds.

If Hannibal were serving up a cake for himself, though, it would probably be less fondant and more this:

Imagine Hannibal saying this to Will in therapy in Mads Mikkelsen’s dulcet tones.

Here is some stunning fanart that fits with the theme because Will is right next to some yummy-looking cake. Is Will, by implication, also cake?

Will is indeed cake.

We’ll never know unless Netflix gives us a much-hoped-for fourth season revival. Your move, Netflix.

Bon appétit!

(images: NBC, Twitter)

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Kaila Hale-Stern

Kaila Hale-Stern (she/her) is a content director, editor, and writer who has been working in digital media for more than fifteen years. She started at TMS in 2016. She loves to write about TV—especially science fiction, fantasy, and mystery shows—and movies, with an emphasis on Marvel. Talk to her about fandom, queer representation, and Captain Kirk. Kaila has written for io9, Gizmodo, New York Magazine, The Awl, Wired, Cosmopolitan, and once published a Harlequin novel you'll never find.

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