The Simpsons' Marvel Insult Revealed The Show's Impossible MCU Problem

screenrant.com:

Although The Simpsons season 33 tried to spoof Disney and theMCU, the gag fell flat because of the show’s relationship with their new corporate overlords. In its critical prime, The Simpsons was unafraid to bite the hand that fed the hit show. Throughout its so-called Golden Age from seasons 3-12, The Simpsons frequently mocked Fox, the network that the show aired on, for their perceived trashiness, lack of intellectual programming, and ruthless business tactics.

While The Simpsons season 33 recently took inspiration from classic episodes of the show, unfortunately, the series also proved that it can’t recapture this rebellious streak anymore. When The Simpsons “You Won't Believe What This Episode is About — Act Three Will Shock You!”” (season 33, episode 14) referenced Disney’s takeover of Fox and Marvel’s dominance over DC, the joke didn’t land the way that classic Simpsons gags about Fox did. There are several reasons for this disparity.

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The joke occurred when Homer becomes a meme overnight thanks to accidentally shoving Reverend Lovejoy out a church window. The screen then displayed a rapid-fire stream of macros that label the shoving Homer as “Lil Nas X” and the falling Lovejoy as “Haters,” Homer as “Streaming” and Lovejoy as “Movie Theatres,” and Homer as “Arby’s” and Lovejoy as “Digestion.” The Simpsons season 33 joke then took aim at Disney and Marvel (sort of) as another two examples labeled Homer as “Marvel” and “Disney” shoving aside Lovejoy’s “DC” and “Fox,” respectively.

The problem was that the joke came off more as an arrogant aside about the two entertainment goliaths and their shared dominance over the industry, rather