The latest episode of Avengers: Endgame directors, Joe and Anthony Russo, The Simpsons included some light-hearted jabs at spoiler-sensitive culture and even Marvel's parent company, Disney.
The Simpsons' irreverent humor has long been willing to poke fun at Disney and their original parent company, Fox. Early promotions for Disney+'s launch included Bart's refusal to wear Mickey Mouse ears. And in "Bart the Bad Guy," The Simpsons takes aim at weaponizing spoilers, which became a particularly sensitive topic before the releases of Infinity War and Endgame.
How exactly the show satirizes Marvel fandom will be relatable to MCU fans, and the involvement of so many of Marvel's creative team proves they're game for a good laugh at the world's most successful film franchise.
"Bart the Bad Guy" begins with the Simpsons watching the latest offering from the "Marble Cinematic Universe." Chinnos, voiced by Feige, gets the best of the Vindicators by freezing them and turning them to dust. Later, after an accident befalls Millhouse, Bart visits him in the hospital where Glen Tangier, the actor who plays one of the Vindicators, mistakes Bart for the injured Millhouse. Glen eventually falls into a drunken sleep, and Bart gets ahold of Glen's computer, which has a copy of Vindicators: Crystal War Two: Resurgence.
Watching the film provides reveal spoilers to the comic book shop proprietor and receives most of the store's merchandise. He gets extra food from the lunch lady, blackmails Principal Skinner to avoid detention, and even manipulates the town to build a treehouse in Springfield's ancient oak tree. Homer, immune to spoilers because he slept through the first Vindicator, gets in on the scheme, bringing a list of the spoilers to Moe's Tavern and getting free beer in exchange for not spoiling the sequel.
The episode's turn occurs when Bart is seemingly sucked into an alternate dimension where he learns that the Vindicators are real heroes - everything that happens in the films occurs in their world - and his spoiling plan has caused the death of Airshot, Glen's superhero character. Bart feels guilty, and when Chinnos attacks the Vindicators in the alternate dimension, he traps Bart and presses him for details about how the Vindicators eventually succeed in defeating the purple, multi-chinned villain. Bart refuses, and the Vindicators vanquish Chinnos.
However, the episode reveals that Bart is in a virtual reality simulation, set up by studio executives. They state that the entire economy will collapse if "Vindicators colon Crystal War Two colon Resurgence" fails at the box office, so they'll go to great lengths to preserve the integrity of the film's ending. Bart's time in virtual reality reforms him, and he gives back all the loot from his blackmailing to the satisfaction of the executive characters who rule that Bart can live - "for now." Near the end of the episode, the executives remain assured that the Simpsons family will not spoil the film, and one executive disarms a bomb in their home. The "D" in "DISARMED" is shaped like the "D" in the Disney logo. "Bart the Bad Guy" concludes with the success of the second Vindicators film: everyone sees it early, and then everyone spoils it online for those who haven't.
Obviously, all the references to the MCU will be familiar to superhero fans, but the main target of the episode's satire is the fandom's sensitivity to spoilers. Like all good satires, The Simpsons recognizes both the triviality, evident in Homer's apathy, and the value in the subject - Bart learns that it's rude to ruin others' experience with the movie. Also, the barbs aimed at movie studios don't go unnoticed: the Disney bomb and the executive's monologue about the economy's dependance on these films satirize Disney's box office dominance. Overall, there's plenty to make fun of, and The Simpsons included everything that could fit into a half-hour of comedy.