In Space with Markiplier

In Space with Markiplier (abbreviated as ISWM) is a 2022 YouTube Originals two-part interactive science fiction comedy film written and directed by Mark Fischbach and a sequel to A Heist with Markiplier. The first part released on April 4, 2022, coinciding with Mark's ten year YouTube anniversary, and the second released on May 2, 2022.

Premise
In Space with Markiplier stars the viewer as a captain of a ship named Invincible II. Not too long after the captain arrives, issues on the ship surface. When a multiversal crisis begins as a result, things are not quite what they seem.

Part 1
The interactive film begins with the Captain arriving at the Invincible II. Mark, the creator of the ship, takes the Captain on a tour on around the ship, and introduces the crew. However, the warp core suddenly engages, which causes the Captain and the rest of the crew to enter the cryo chambers. The Captain is sent through a wormhole, wakes up, and is ejected from the chamber while the ship is in the catastrophic state, leading to them trying to fix the problems. It is possible that the Captain makes a bad choice and ends up dying; this ends up having them being sent back by a wormhole to when they woke up in their cryo chamber. There are a total of 5 endings that can be gotten, before the Captain "goes towards the light", although they are sent back again.

Mark finds the Captain as the latter is about to jump into the wormhole, and the two fall into it before the Captain encounters the Warp Core. The two find themselves back on the ship, with Mark now aware of the multiverse. The story progresses in multiple different ways, in which the Captain encounters different characters, including the alien Wug, a mysterious Lady hunting them down in search of answers, and a Bandit who gives the Captain a Warp Device. There are two possible endings to part 1, with the most common being the Captain encountering an older Mark who accidentally starts a universal collapse from a failed attempt to solve the paradox caused from previous events. In a rare ending, the Captain decides to freeze indefinitely in a cryo chamber, although they are later discovered by explorer Illinois, who mistakes the Captain for a mummy and locks them back in. If the Captain recieves the common universal collapse ending, a loading bar is shown rebooting the universe.

Part 2
The universal reboot loading bar finishes and the opening of Part 1 begins again, but many glitches happen which causes the captain to be sent into another universe where they are the child of Stan the Water Man, where it is implied that the previous events are just a nightmare the child experienced. Stan tries to read a bedtime story (which can be horror or romance, depending on the viewer's choices) that is shown in a form similar to Markiplier's interactive films - the story gets corrupted and the Captain is sent to a diner where they meet Old Mark. Old Mark apologizes to the Captain for messing things up, and realizes that the solution is him not trying to fix it in the first place. Old Mark tells the Captain to make sure Mark never uses the Warp Core at all, and the Captain travels across universes of different kinds to find a solution.

After travelling through many universes, the multiverse is close to destruction, and the Captain finds themselves back at the now desolate and empty diner. After Old Mark thanks the Captain for trying and disappears, the Captain enters another room to see a timelapse of Mark building the Warp Core, before they get knocked out by Mark himself. Mark takes the Captain's Warp Device and tries to fix the Captain's "mistakes", but the Captain distracts him and a wormhole appears. As Mark is about to get sucked into it and holds on to the Captain, he tries to persuade the Captain to let go, saying he can solve everything. If the Captain lets go of Mark, the Warp Core disappears, and the Captain is sent back to the beginning of the story. However, if the Captain holds on and throws the Warp Crystal into the wormhole, the paradox is solved and the multiverse is saved. Mark realizes he built the Warp Core to begin with, and apologizes to the Captain as everything goes back to normal. The Captain wakes up in the original now-working Invincible ship, and as the ship reaches its desired planet, Mark thanks the Captain for not giving up on him.

In a post-credit scene after the choice where the Captain holds on to Mark, the Warp Crystal can be found on the ground. Darkiplier steps in and picks up the crystal, quoting a line previously said during his appearance in A Heist with Markiplier, thus tying both the stories of In Space with Markiplier and A Heist with Markiplier together.

The Warp Core
The Warp Core is a device in the middle of the Invincible II, powered by the Warp Crystal. The Warp Core was initially created to stop the wormhole for the paradox to end, but unfortunately caused the time loop and warp far worse. It was designed by Mark, thinking he was repairing it because the captain “destroyed” it.

The Warp Device
Self-explanatory, the Warp Device is capable of transporting the user through various yet random universes without involving the other method of death.

Main

 * Mark, Illinois, Stan the Water Man, Wilford Warfstache, Yancy, Darkiplier, Jim -- Mark Fischbach
 * Captain -- Jordan Bradley
 * Celcionna F. Kelvina -- Pamela Horton
 * Gunther B. Gunnerson -- Mick Lauer
 * Burt -- Bob Muyskens
 * Lady / Universal Stability Agency (USA) agent -- Lio Tipton
 * Wug -- Wade Barnes
 * Bandit -- Morgan Simone
 * Dorene L. Whitacre -- Linda Bradshaw
 * Computer -- Steve Taylor
 * Narrator -- Arin Hanson

Others

 * Shuttle Pilot -- Holt Boggs
 * Theory Crew, Mack -- MatPat
 * Ninja Crew/Ninja Brian -- Brian Wecht
 * Sexy Crew/Danny Sexbang -- Dan Avidan
 * First Mate -- Tyler Scheid
 * Wormhole -- Ethan Nestor-Darling (credited as Ethan Nestor)
 * Alien Teen -- Danielle Ploeger
 * Drones -- Jacksepticeye
 * Cryo Computer -- Pokimane
 * Invincible Tower -- Baldermort
 * Extra Crew -- Carlos Pena, Roderick Loving, Jason Campbell, Judy Lee, Sophia Tinsley, Reggie Lussier, Kai Woodley, Gabriel Leite, Amani Alexander, Adam Weightman

Production

 * Mark Fischbach -- Writer, Director
 * Philip Roy -- Co-Director
 * Amy Nelson -- Creative Producer
 * Will Hyde, Ben Curtis, Ryan P. Hall, Jordan Levin -- Executive Producer
 * Maria Quintana, Jeff Guerrero -- Producer
 * Erika Slay -- Costume Designer
 * The Gregory Brothers -- Original Theme
 * Wes Meyers -- Visual Effects Supervisor

Part 1
Act 1: Act 2:

Part 2
Act 3: Act 4: Act 5:

Endings
Notes: Contents may be subject to change over time, and all ending titles listed are purely unofficial for the time being.

Act 1:
Act One has 5 endings with all being narrative. After each ending, the option "Go Towards the Light" appears and will lead to Act 2 if chosen.

Act 2:
Act Two has 3 main endings with 5 Easter Eggs leading into the Universal Collapse.

Part 2:
Part Two has 2 main endings with one that will take you back to the very beginning of the story making you start over. (TBD)

Post-release content
Following the release of In Space with Markiplier part 1, Mark continued to include film-related references and alternate reality games in his subsequent YouTube videos.

Development
Following the success of A Heist with Markiplier, Mark started working on a potential continuation. In a vlog commemorating Unus Annus' finale livestream, Mark announced the sequel to be in full production, with the intention of finishing the project by mid 2021. Between the announcement vlog and the film's first teaser, Mark publicly referred to the project under its working title, A Heist with Markiplier 2, as he did not feel comfortable disclosing the film's actual name before the official reveal.

On January 4, 2021, Mark went on a week-long hiatus to focus on writing the script for the upcoming film, while entertaining his audience with an idea of him not being a real person.

After expanding the production and going overbudget, Mark asked his audience if they would like to contribute to the upcoming film by becoming a channel member. In turn, Mark will produce several small-scale members-only projects, an event he dubbed "Markiplier's Big Ass Bake Sale," and use all of his members' donations to fund the upcoming film. Although the fundraiser was successful, Mark stated that it "didn't go as planned," noting that he wished he could have made additional content for his channel members.

Filming
On February 3, 2021, Mark stated that the location shooting for the film was originally suppose to start sometime in 2020, but was later postponed for 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the setback, Mark noted that the delay helped him catch up with his writing, stating that, while not entirely finished, the story for it has been complete.

In late July of 2021, Mark flew to Austin, Texas for location shooting. In late August, Mark stated that the first week of filming was finished. On September 6, Mark stated that he had around one week left of filming before the project could enter post-production. Mark also described In Space with Markiplier as being bigger and much more complicated than A Heist with Markiplier. On September 19, Mark announced that the filming for In Space with Markiplier has been completed, and is now entering post-production.

In February of 2022, Mark stated that the film was being finalized, with some additional work being done on audio mixing.

Marketing
On September 3, 2021, Mark uploaded the first animated teaser to his YouTube channel, revealing the film's official title and setting. On December 11, 2021, Mark uploaded the second animated teaser to his channel. On March 4, 2022, Mark uploaded the official trailer for the first part of the film to his channel, announcing its release date to be April 4, 2022.

On April 11, 2022, one week after the premiere of part 1 of In Space with Markiplier, Mark uploaded a cryptic teaser for part two, which is scheduled to release on May 2, 2022.

In addition to Mark's promotional material, the film was advertised by YouTube on several locations in the United States.

Merchandise
Following the release of part 1 of In Space with Markiplier, in collaboration with CLOAK, Mark launched a limited line of clothing and accessories themed around the film.

General

 * Since the completion of A Heist with Markiplier, Mark had already decided that he wanted the sequel to take place in outer space, but only shared the idea with his close associates. According to Mark, the day after A Heist with Markiplier was released, Wade, who initially thought that the setting was a joke, posted a reply to Mark on Twitter referencing the sequel's setting, inadvertently leaking the plans for In Space with Markiplier. Shortly after, Wade deleted the tweet on Mark's request. Mark also stated that seemingly none of his fans caught onto it, because the online exchange between the two parties occurred in such a short span of time.
 * On April Fools' Day, three days before the premiere of part 1, Mark changed the video's thumbnail to the aptly titled Under Da Ocean with Markiplier, in reference to his fear of the ocean. The following day, Mark reverted the thumbnail back to the video's original.

In-universe

 * Invincible II's design was inspired by a similar looking spacecraft from the 1997 science fiction horror film Event Horizon.
 * Some of the crew members' names have references:
 * Celci's full name, Celcionna F. Kelvina, is a reference to temperature measurements; Celcionna is a play on Celsius and Kelvina is a reference to Kelvin. Following the logic behind the character's name, it is possible that her middle name has something to do with Fahrenheit.
 * All three parts of Gunther's full name, Gunther B. Gunnerson, have some relation to firearms; The first and last name both contain the word "gun," with Gunther also stating that his middle name is "Bullet."
 * Theory Crew is a reference to MatPat's YouTube web series Game Theory.
 * Ninja Crew and Sexy Crew are a reference to Brian Wecht and Dan Avidan's music duo Ninja Sex Party.
 * Throughout the film, there are several fourth wall breaks:
 * In "In Space with Markiplier: Part 1," while docking shuttle Marmota aboard the Invincible II spacecraft, the pilot lowers the blast doors to cover the shuttle's front windows and states that they could not afford to make a landing sequence.
 * At one of the penultimate choices, there is an option to go back. Upon doing so, the viewer will be greeted by a dancing Wilford Warfstache who tells them to stop looking for Easter eggs and finish the story, noting that their meeting is supposed to be in part 2.
 * When the viewer decides to tell the Bandit that they and Mark don't need her help, the narrator stops the sequence, expresses disgust in the viewer for choosing to focus on finding Easter eggs instead of the story's objective, and shows them an "Easter egg": a Warfstache-styled mask, before changing the scene to where the viewer accepts the Bandit's help.
 * In an attempt to lure the viewer into opening the door, the voice behind it mentions that there was a musical and someone else inside the room. This is a reference to the musical "I Don't Wanna Be Free" and the character of Yancy from A Heist with Markiplier, both of which have become a fan favorite within Mark's community.