The Beloved YouTuber Who Died from Cancer at 23: How A Minecraft Movie Pays Tribute to Technoblade

The hit film had plenty of hidden easter eggs for fans of the game. One of the most popular ones honored a beloved Minecraft YouTuber who died of cancer in 2022

If you’ve seen A Minecraft Movie already, you’re well aware that some scenes elicit huge cheers from the fans of the film.

One of said scenes is when an avatar of a pig wearing a cape and crown strolls across the screen, and the majority of the theater screams “TECHNOBLADE!”

So what (or who) is Technoblade? He’s one of the most famous Minecraft YouTubers of all time (real name Alex, last name unknown), whose videos playing the game racked up millions of views between 2013 and 2022. His most popular video had 16 million views, and in total, his livestreams have seen 1.6 billion views to date.

He was also a champion creator. competing in the MC Championships and winning two of them. In 2020, he bested fellow YouTuber Dream in a friendly Minecraft duel hosted by Mr. Beast, in which he won $100,000.

He also has a tragic story.

In 2021, he told his fans that he’d been diagnosed with metastatic sarcoma after experiencing pain and a lump in his shoulder. It was later revealed to have been stage 4 sarcoma that had metastasized to his lungs.

In June 2022, Technoblade’s father uploaded his final video to his channel titled, ‘so long nerds.”

The video explained that if they were watching this, it meant he had died from his diagnosis, at just 23.

“Hello everyone,” Technoblade is heard saying. “If you are watching this, I am dead.” He thanked his fans for their support over the years and ended the clip saying, “If I had another hundred lives, I think I would choose to be Technoblade again, every single time, as those were the happiest years of my life.”

The video also announced that future proceeds from merchandising would go to the Sarcoma Foundation of America.

Tributes poured in, and several weeks later, after his death, Mojang Studios added a Technoblade pig to the launcher of Minecraft: Java Edition.

During A Minecraft Movie, when Technoblade walks into frame during a scene in which Steve (Jack Black) is explaining who the villagers are and what they do, Henry, played by Sebastian Eugene Hansen, asks, “Wow, is that some sort of king?”

“No,” Black replies. “That’s a legend.”

In an April 2025 interview with Collider, the film’s director, Jared Hess, revealed that Hanson was the one who had the idea for the Technoblade tribute.

“When we were prepping the film, he was like, ‘Look, there’s this amazing Minecraft player named Technoblade who passed away, and I would love to be able to honor him,” Hess said.

The director continued, “We were like, ‘Oh my goodness, of course.’ “