Herobrine may haunt Minecraft gamers, but his surprise appearance in A Minecraft Movie wasn't planned.
A Minecraft Movie has defied early expectations, earning loud cheers and even standing ovations from audiences, especially for moments that had already gone viral online.
Despite fears of a critical flop, the film's theatrical debut has been met with enthusiasm, drawing the biggest crowd to theaters thus far in 2025.
Viral catchphrases like "I… am Steve" and the chaotic "Chicken jockey" scene have turned Minecraft Movie screenings into unexpectedly raucous experiences.
Minecraft Confirms Accidental Herobrine Easter Egg
Despite sparking excitement among longtime fans, the eerie white-eyed figure in A Minecraft Movie wasn't meant to be a nod to the infamous Herobrine legend.
According to Mojang Studios' creative director Torfi Frans Olafsson, what appeared to be a clever Easter egg resulted from a last-minute VFX issue. Reflecting on the scene where Steve's glowing white eyes sparked comparisons to the infamous fan-made character, Olafsson explained (via X), "All of their eyes were supposed to be purple:"
"It's super strange that all of their eyes were supposed to be purple but when it was rendered one of the characters eyes kept coming out white in the final rendered frames so we wound up keeping it like that, because the VFX studio ran out of time."
This was also part of the explanation for why some fans were shocked by how bad the CGI was in A Minecraft Movie.
Herobrine, a creepy urban legend within the Minecraft community, originated from a 2010 horror story about a mysterious version of Steve who haunted players' worlds with supernatural behavior and glowing white eyes.
Though Mojang has repeatedly denied Herobrine's existence in the actual game, the myth remains a popular fixture in Minecraft folklore. While this visual glitch wasn't intentional, fans shouldn't rule out the possibility of Herobrine making a real appearance in the future.
Could Herobrine Be Included In Minecraft Movie 2?
With A Minecraft Movie smashing box office expectations and resonating deeply with fans of the iconic game, talk of a sequel is already gaining momentum.
Director Jared Hess hinted to Deadline that a follow-up film is far more plausible than a Napoleon Dynamite 2, pointing to Minecraft's boundless world-building potential and enduring fanbase:
"We had so much fun making this movie, and it’s such an expansive world in the game, and there were so many things that we didn't tap into that we wanted to. I would have a blast doing the sequel, and it seems like there's already talk about it happening, so I’m super excited. It'll be so much fun to go back into the world. The fans are just having such a good time. We teased it in the end credits, and the fans seem to be going wild for it."
Given the game's open-ended nature, a second movie could dive into fresh territories, both literally and narratively.
One intriguing possibility is the long-rumored and fan-favorite character Herobrine. Though not canon in the official game, Herobrine has become a Minecraft mythos staple, and Hess could lean into that eerie, legendary figure to give a sequel a darker, more mysterious edge.
With so many Minecraft stories still left to tell and fans eager for more, a second film (perhaps one featuring Herobrine) isn't just possible; it feels inevitable. Before A Minecraft Movie eventually leaves theaters, fans have more time to catch all the pixel-perfect details and maybe even spot that accidental Herobrine moment for themselves.
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