‘The Simpsons’ Showrunner Issues Statement on Beloved Character Marge's Fate

The Simpsons Season 36 finale aired more than a month ago, but fans only recently began to speculate that one of the most beloved characters—matriarch Marge Simpson—was killed off in the episode. The episode, titled “Estranger Things,” aired on Fox on May 18 and featured a flash forward scene that kind of slipped under the radar—until now.

In a new interview with Variety, showrunner Matt Selman made it clear that Marge’s death is not a storyline on the animated Fox series. “There is no canon,” the EP said. “The Simpsons doesn’t even have canon!”

“Obviously, since The Simpsons future episodes are all speculative fantasies, they’re all different every time,” Selman added. “Marge will probably never be dead ever again. The only place Marge is dead is in one future episode that aired six weeks ago.”

In the episode, Marge Simpson‘s future funeral was shown as her now-grown children stood by a tombstone that read, “Beloved wife, mother, and pork-chop seasoner.” It was also teased that the wife of Homer Simpson married her longtime crush, Ringo Starr, in the afterlife.

Selman noted that many media outlets ran with the “misleading” story that The Simpsons matriarch will be dead as the series moves forward. The Simpsons has been renewed through Season 40, per The Hollywood Reporter.

Marge Simpson has been voiced by Julie Kavner ever since the character debuted on a Tracy Ullman Show short in 1987. 

During an appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman, Kavner, now 74, admitted that she didn’t like to do the character's voice in public. “I don't want to destroy the illusion you know to have that sound come out of this face,” she explained of voicing Marge. "It would destroy it for America.”

Related: Unpacking ‘The Simpsons’ Unexpected ‘Series Finale’