The Simpsons' season 36 finale has revealed that Marge Simpson (voiced by Julie Kavner), one of the animated show’s main characters, eventually dies in the Springfield universe.
The episode, titled Estranger Things, was released last month on Fox, and marked the final episode of this season — although the show has been renewed and will return for season 37 in late 2025.
Ahead of the new season, however, Simpsons fans are now talking about what fate met the Simpson family matriarch after we learn that she has died before Homer Simpson did.
So, what do we know about this surprising plot twist?
Does Marge Simpson die?
Based on a flashforward episode, yes Marge Simpson does die.
But the episode doesn’t actually give us much indication as to when this happens, or whether it’ll actually occur in upcoming plots.
How does Marge Simpson die? (spoiler alert)
Estranger Things centres on the sibling relationship between Bart and Lisa, who bonded over their love of the TV show Itchy & Scratchy before growing out of the cartoon series.
Marge worries that her children are drifting apart and worries about how close they’ll be in the future. Then, the show jumps forward 35 years into the future, where Lisa has a successful career and Bart runs an unlicensed retirement home.
This would put the Simpson children in their early forties, while Homer and Marge would be in their early seventies at this point.
Very early on in the episode, viewers hear Lisa talk about her “late mother,” but we don’t get any details about when or how she died.
As the episode progresses, we start to see several old characters, including Principal Skinner, Milhouse and all of Homer’s friends, who are still alive 35 years in the future.
In the plot, Springfield’s ‘senior services’ take Homer away to Florida after Lisa issues a complaint about her father’s living condition and case.
Suddenly, Lisa discovers a letter Marge wrote that was “to be opened after I pass (on),” which contains her emotional will. A young-looking Marge addresses the camera and talks about the “very unlikely” scenario that she dies before Homer does.
Bart and Lisa eventually break their dad out of the Florida scheme, and end up reuniting to watch yet another episode of Itchy & Scratchy.
We then see Marge Simpson looking down from an ethereal cloud, before heading into heaven with The Beatles’ Ringo Starr.
When does Marge Simpson die?
It’s unclear how or when Marge Simpson dies in the Simpson franchise, but we do know that the character passes on before her husband Homer.
But there are some clues which could help narrow this down.
Given that her heavenly character hasn’t aged, this could suggest that Marge is killed off early in the show.
However, in her emotional will, Marge also reminds her children that she spoke ‘several years ago’ about the importance of them being kind siblings to each other. So, this at least gives us a few years from the current day season before we can expect her untimely death.
