Bart the Bad Guy

"Bart the Bad Guy"
The Simpsons episode
Poster of the episode with a homage to the Avengers: Infinity War poster.
Episode no.	Season 31 Episode 14
Directed by	Jennifer Moeller
Written by	Dan Vebber
Production code	ZABF08
Original air date	March 1, 2020 (2020-03-01)
Guest appearances
Kevin Feige as Chinnos[1] Tal Fishman as Reaction Guy Taran Killam as Glen Tangier, Airshot Joe Mantegna as Fat Tony Anthony Russo as Movie Executive #2 Joe Russo as Movie Executive #1 Cobie Smulders as Hydrangea
Episode chronology
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The Simpsons (season 31)
List of episodes

"Bart the Bad Guy" is the 14th episode of the thirty-first season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 676th episode overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on March 1, 2020. The episode was written by Dan Vebber and was directed by Jennifer Moeller.

In the episode, Bart accidentally sees a new superhero movie, one month before its intended release, and uses his knowledge to terrorize the other fans by threatening to spoil it. Two executive producers of the film attempt to prevent Bart from leaking any more news to the public.

The episode parodies the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and the Avengers films, specifically on the spoiler phenomenon revolving around Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. MCU film producer Kevin Feige, Infinity War and Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo, and MCU actress Cobie Smulders make voice cameos in the episode. Smulders' husband, Taran Killam, also guest stars.

Plot[]

Numerous Springfield citizens watch Vindicators Crystal War, the new movie in a Marble Cinematic Universe superhero franchise called Vindicators. When the film ends on a cliffhanger in which the villain kills the film's heroes, the audience is shocked and saddened by the bleak cliffhanger. They eagerly anticipate the concluding sequel which doesn't come out for a year, much to their impatience.

Eleven months later and one month before the release of Vindicators Crystal War 2: Resurgence, Milhouse is injured while Bart attempts a YouTube stunt. One of the stars of Vindicators, Australian actor Glen Tangier who plays the superhero Airshot, mistakes Bart for Milhouse while visiting him at the hospital and passes out drunk. Bart hijacks his laptop where he finds and views a cut of the unreleased final Vindicators film that night. With knowledge of the film's key moments and plot reveals, Bart decides to visit Comic Book Guy to exchange the spoilers for an expensive comic book. However, Comic Book Guy instead gives away all of his products so he doesn't get the film spoiled for himself. Realizing the power he has, armed with the film's spoilers, Bart decides to blackmail the town by threatening to spoil the ending of the film. When he attempts to blackmail his father, Homer tells Bart that he is immune to his spoiler power because he doesn't care about the Vindicators films. Instead, Bart lets Homer in on the deal, allowing him to scam free beer from Moe. Bart also exploits Lisa by giving her a chance to dance with Airshot (played by Tangier) at a school dance. After realizing that his power will mean nothing when the film finally opens in theaters, Bart's blackmailing escalates.

Milhouse Bart for stealing his visit from Airshot before Bart is kidnapped by the Marble film studio, who has been made aware of Bart's blackmailing and knowledge of the spoilers. Using virtual reality, the studio executives make him believe that his spoilers will actually kill the film's heroes in their universe if he leaks (means exposé) them. Bart refuses to reveal the spoilers to the film's villain to save the heroes, satisfying the studio executives. As a result, Bart releases the town free from his blackmailing and he successfully doesn't spoil the film until the film finally premieres. However, the first Springfield audience to see the film in the theater inadvertently spoils the film on social media.

Reception[]

Writing for The A.V. Club, Dennis Perkins gave the episode a B, praising the parody elements but finding the Homer and Marge story weak.^[2]

Jesse Schedeen of IGN gave "Bart the Bad Guy" an 8/10, writing that "If you watch 'Bart the Bad Guy' solely to see the MCU taken down a peg, you may come away a little disappointed. [...] Luckily, [the episode] finds other, better avenues to explore, lampooning spoiler culture and making a familiar formula feel fresh and exciting again."^[3]

Tony Sokol of Den of Geek wrote, "Bart The Bad Guy strikes at the very heart of all of comic book culture." Going on to state, "The Simpsons remain current with this episode while subtly referencing and satirizing the comic book conspiracies." He gave the episode 3 out of 5 stars.^[4]

References[]

External links[]

• "Bart the Bad Guy" at IMDb