--- title: Why Gamora Memes Have Taken Over the Universe description: This behind-the-scenes video of Zoe Saldana as Gamora applying her green lipstick has taken over as the week's best meme. canonical: https://time.com/5582880/gamora-memes/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-05-03T16:15:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:58:53.503Z og:title: "Gamora Applying Lipstick" Meme Takes Over the Universe og:description: The behind-the-scenes video of Gamora applying her lipstick has gone viral og:url: https://time.com/5582880/gamora-memes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6945fb6b14ecca92/69869e321eebf7b2e13721e9/83401jpg-6e5269_960w.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: 83401jpg-6e5269_960w og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: "Gamora Applying Lipstick" Meme Takes Over the Universe twitter:description: The behind-the-scenes video of Gamora applying her lipstick has gone viral twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6945fb6b14ecca92/69869e321eebf7b2e13721e9/83401jpg-6e5269_960w.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Self-Satisfied Gamora Applying Lipstick Meme Is One of the Most Versatile Memes in the Marvel Universe > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner May 3, 2019 4:15 PM UTC  Zoe Saldana as Gamora in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Zoe Saldana as Gamora in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Marvel  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner May 3, 2019 4:15 PM UTC We all know that [Gamora](http://time.com/5553690/marvel-cinematic-universe-villains-ranked/), the supernatural character played by Zoe Saldana in the _Guardians of the Galaxy_ movies and [_Avengers: Endgame_](http://time.com/5579256/avengers-endgame-biggest-opening-weekend/) as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is green. But it wasn’t until the internet began circulating this video of Saldana applying her green lipstick that Gamora’s unusual skin color — and makeup-applying skills — took on a whole new meaning in the wide world of internet memes. With her focused, self-satisfied expression as she expertly lacquers her lips, still dressed in a robe, fans have started comparing this particular Gamora moment to everything from “money getting ready to leave my bank account” to “lettuce getting ready to give people E. coli.” In other words: anything green that’s prepping to destroy your life is, basically, Gamora in this video. As the meme’s life expanded, it has gone on to include pretty much _anything_ that’s preparing to make a big change to an unsuspecting subject. The video can be traced back to a behind-the-scenes clip that [Saldana herself shared](https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw0xMvhhBa9/) on her Instagram account at the end of April, a few days after the release of _Avengers: Endgame_ on April 26\. (That movie has [smashed records](http://time.com/5579163/avengers-endgame-box-office-records/) as the biggest blockbuster opening of all time, making Gamora even more of a pop-culture-central figure at the moment.) The actress added in the caption: “#nofilter #Gamora #becauseshesworthit.” From there, it traveled to Twitter — and to [official meme status](https://twitter.com/i/moments/1123715241773281280). > [](https://twitter.com/MatthewACherry/status/1123502664040337408) > [](https://twitter.com/jaboukie/status/1123594334144749570) > [](https://twitter.com/itsjcerm/status/1123082436227760134) > [](https://twitter.com/sapphicaptain/status/1122980611008933889) > [](https://twitter.com/shannonmichele%5F/status/1124143851722223616) > [](https://twitter.com/BeardedGenius/status/1124064990720401408) > [](https://twitter.com/pat%5Fovo/status/1123698204292407296) > [](https://twitter.com/KiraEileenP/status/1123711250230337536) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5582880/gamora-memes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5582880/gamora-memes/"},"headline":"The Self-Satisfied Gamora Applying Lipstick Meme Is One of the Most Versatile Memes in the Marvel Universe","datePublished":"2019-05-03T16:15:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:58:53.503Z","description":"\"Money getting ready to leave my bank account\"","url":"https://time.com/5582880/gamora-memes/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","Meme","Marvel Cinematic Universe"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6945fb6b14ecca92/69869e321eebf7b2e13721e9/83401jpg-6e5269_960w.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6945fb6b14ecca92/69869e321eebf7b2e13721e9/83401jpg-6e5269_960w.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"83401jpg-6e5269_960w","caption":"Zoe Saldana as Gamora in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy","creditText":"Marvel","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5582880/gamora-memes/","name":"The Self-Satisfied Gamora Applying Lipstick Meme Is One of the Most Versatile Memes in the Marvel Universe"}}]}] ```