Spongebob SquarePants fans are really, really looking forward to the halftime show.
Speculation over whether halftime act Maroon 5 would play the song “Sweet Victory” in memory of SpongeBob creator Stephen Hillenburg has reached a fever pitch online.
Reporters in Atlanta have heard the pop group practicing for the big performance, which appears to include visuals of the cartoon character.
CONFIRMED: @JWilliamsWDEF and I can verify that #SpongeBob WILL BE USED during the Pepsi Halftime Show!
— Angela Moryan (@AngelaMoryanTV) January 30, 2019
We can hear @maroon5 practicing right now. pic.twitter.com/AedPuhi4Q1
During teasers for their big show, Maroon 5 included SpongeBob.
#SBLIII pic.twitter.com/dWKJQDS9ap
— Maroon 5 (@maroon5) January 13, 2019
Rodger Bumpass, the voice of Squidward, also announced on Facebook he’ll be part of the show, CBS Sports reported.
“Sweet Victory” not only would be a great tribute to SpongeBob creator Stephen Hillenburg, who died in November but also would fit the theme. SpongeBob and his band during Bikini Bottom’s equivalent to the Super Bowl in a 2001 episode. You can see that full performance here.
The official news comes after months of an online petition made its rounds gathering over a million signatures asking for the song to be part of the half-time show.
“As some of you may or may not know, Stephen Hillenburg — the creator of Spongebob Squarepants —passed away recently. As a tribute to his legacy, his contributions to a generation of children, and to truly showcase the greatness of this song, we call for Sweet Victory to be performed at the Halftime Show,” the petition reads.
While many are excited, some are nervous that the performance won’t live up to the hype.
“I think we are getting our hopes up and it’ll be one of those five-second clips in the middle of a montage thing that they always do at the SB, not the full performance we actually want,” Reddit user innnikki wrote on a thread about the performance.
“Which is a shame because I believe Maroon 5 would do a killer cover of this song,” user flaccomcorangy adds. “I can’t say I’m a huge fan of theirs, but they’re a good band, and Adam Levine’s voice would fit the song pretty well.”
And, this being Reddit, of course there are memes.
So. Many. Memes.
Let’s hope fans get they’ve been waiting for.
H/T BuzzFeed