Simpsons Future Vision: Why Marge Isn’t Really Gone
Oh, splendid—just what we needed, a global furor over a cartoon mom’s supposed demise. In the Season 36 finale “Estranger Things,” fans were treated to a grim flash-forward in which Marge Simpson looks down from heaven while her kids, Bart and Lisa, finally reconcile to care for an elderly Homer. Cue the online riots. But before you start drafting your “RIP Marge” tweets, take a breath: The Simpsons’ executive producer Matt Selman has confirmed via Variety that Marge isn’t exactly pushing up daisies in canonical Springfield.
Let’s cut through the nonsense. According to Selman, the death scene aired on May 18 and lives solely in the realm of “speculative fantasies.” He reminded Variety on June 26 that every future glimpse on The Simpsons is “all different” and none of them count as permanent truth. In other words, this was a one-off gag, not a series-changing plot twist. E! Online also reported Selman’s cheeky acknowledgment that “Marge will probably never be dead ever again,” reinforcing that the show cherishes its endless reset button more than any dramatic finale.
Still unconvinced? Consider Selman’s take that The Simpsons “doesn’t even have canon,” a phrase he dropped in his interview with Variety. It’s comedy, folks — a decades-long satirical romp that has thrived on non-stop reinvention since its Tracey Ullman Show origins in 1987. The uproar itself, Selman admits, is “probably good for business,” especially when viral headlines paint a misleading portrait of Springfield’s matriarch. He even laughed off the hysteria as proof viewers care enough about Marge to react, proving that this yellow family still packs a punch on social media.
Of course, Marge isn’t the only character whose “death” spawned fan tributes. Last season’s demise of Larry the Barfly generated its own wave of nostalgia on X, where followers mourned the silent regular from Moe’s Tavern. “RIP Larry the Barfly—we hardly knew ye,” one lamented, another hoping he finds “an eternal happy hour” in the afterlife. Those cases underscore that The Simpsons’ 790 episodes have no shortage of emotional curveballs, even if none ever stick.
At the end of the day, fans should bookmark this as yet another wild detour in Homer’s neighborhood, not an obituary for America’s most enduring cartoon family. Did anyone expect a different outcome? No? Thought so. And that, dear reader, is why we can’t have nice things.
Sources: Celebrity Storm and Variety, E! Online
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed
