Last year, fans started a petition to have the SpongeBob Squarepants song "Sweet Victory" played during the Superbowl halftime show in an effort to pay tribute to the show's late creator Stephen Hillenburg, who passed away in November due to complications with ALS. "Sweet Victory" is best recognized as the triumphant anthem that comes on in an episode of the cartoon series in which SpongeBob and other citizens of Bikini Bottom take part in a marching band that performs at the halftime show of a big, yet unnamed game at the surface.
The petition since reached over one million signatures in support of the request and it may have very well been answered. This month, Maroon 5 uploaded a teaser video for their pending Super Bowl halftime performance, and about 32 seconds into the video, SpongeBob flashes across the screen. While it is no confirmation, there's certainly reason for fans to get their hopes up. It arrives one month after the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the venue where this year's Super Bowl will be staged, tweeted out a GIF of the SpongeBob Squarepants "Band Geeks" episode in which "Sweet Victory" appears.
Of course, only time will tell just what is pulled off in the end. With the Super Bowl just one week away, we'll know soon enough.