Difference between revisions of "Bart the Bad Guy"

Episode number:	676
Season number:	S31 E14
Production code:	ZABF08
Original airdate:	March 1, 2020
Guest star(s):	Kevin Feige as Chinnos Tal Fishman as Reaction Guy Taran Killam as Glen Tangier Joe Mantegna as Fat Tony Anthony Russo as movie executive 2 Joe Russo as Movie executive 1 Cobie Smulders as Hydrangea
Showrunner:	Matt Selman
Written by:	Dan Vebber
Directed by:	Jennifer Moeller

"Bart the Bad Guy" is the fourteenth episode of season 31 of The Simpsons and the six-hundred and seventy-sixth episode overall. It originally aired on March 1, 2020. The episode was written by Dan Vebber and directed by Jennifer Moeller. It guest stars Kevin Feige as Chinnos, Tal Fishman as Reaction Guy, Taran Killam as Glen Tangier, Joe Mantegna as Fat Tony, Anthony Russo as movie executive 2, Joe Russo as Movie executive 1 and Cobie Smulders as Hydrangea.

Synopsis[edit]

"Bart accidentally sees a brand-new superhero movie a month before it comes out... and the world cowers before his newfound plot-spoiling powers. Thus, a new super-villain is born: Spoiler Boy! Can heroic movie executives stop Bart before he succumbs to the temptations of ultimate evil?"

Plot[edit]

At the Springfield Googolplex Theatres, Vindicators: Crystal War is shown, with Chinnos using the Doomsday app to crystallize and then disintegrate the Vindicators. The Vindicators' plan to stop him fails and the movie ends with a cliffhanger.

Eleven months later, at school, Skinner deter his students from taking part on the Flag yourself challenge, by using Reaction Guy's videos as example, but Bart creates the channel Reaction Bart and records his Flag yourself challenge himself, but Milhouse gets injured in the process.

Milhouse gets treated at the Springfield General Hospital, and when he's transported elsewhere for physical therapy, Bart takes his place. Airshot, Glen Tangier, comes to visit Milhouse, but he mistakes Bart for him and was going to offer him the opportunity to watch the sequel to the movie if he was ill.

Having Airman knocked himself out with alcohol, Bart takes the opportunity to watch Vindicators: Crystal War 2: Resurgence before it gets to the theaters. He goes to the Android's Dungeon to treaten to reveal spoilers from the movie to Comic Book Guy if he doesn't collaborate.

Comic Book Guy gives in much of his stuff to keep Bart's mouth shut and he becomes Spoiler Boy, getting much more stuff from people, but Homer doesn't care about them, so he reveals the secrets so Homer can get spoiled too, by taking Bart to Moe's Tavern.

Marge and Lisa are against the idea, but Bart convinces Lisa otherwise by offering a dance with Airshot at the school dance, but the time is running out as next Thursday the movie would be on theaters.

At the Old Suzie tree's birthday party, Bart asks the Springfielders to build a tree house on top of the tree. Milhouse confronts his friend at night about him using his "powers" for evil, calling him a supervillain, and Bart was going to announce a big spoiler when Magnesium Man appears behind them.

Magnesium Man stops him from saying anything and opens a portal in the tree and transports Bart into the Marble Universe, revealing that superheroes are actually real and that revealing a scene for Airshot to Comic Book Guy changed their world, as the supervillains saw it and killed Airshot before he could act.

But while Bart cries, all is revealed to be a virtual reality recreation by the movie producers to stop the spoilers from leaking. In the simulation, Chinnos appears, as soon as the producers raises the intensity of it.

Chinnos offers him actual super powers in exchange for the spoilers, but he refuses breaking his phone and the super heroes win. Bart "returns" to the real world and stops his villainous actions, while the producers stop a bomb from going off if the family was going to talk about it.

In the end, Bart gives back Skinner's toupee and the stuff given to him by Comic Book Guy and stops the tree house from being built, while at the premiere, people spoiled the movie for everyone on their phones.

Production[edit]

The episode was written before the producers had any idea that Disney would buy out 20th Century Fox.^[1] The name "Vindicators" came from an unaired show that executive producer Matt Selman wrote called "The Vindicators" in 1996.^[2] A deleted scene from the episode has Marge worrying that Bart is not a good person whilst Homer eats a giant tub of ice cream.^[3] Another cut gag was a joke about "roast koalas", which was cut due to the Australian bushfires.^[4] Principal Skinner's screensaver was added as a last minute gag created by Richard K. Chung, written in comic sans.^[5]

Chinnos
Movie executives
Hydrangea and Airshot

Reception[edit]

"Bart the Bad Guy" was nominated for a 2021 Writers Guild of America award in Animation, but it lost to "Xerox of a Xerox" from BoJack Horseman.^[6]

Gallery[edit]

References[edit]

Promo videos[edit]

Wikisimpsons has a collection of images related to "Bart the Bad Guy".

← Season 30 Season 31 Episodes Season 32 →
The Winter of Our Monetized Content • Go Big or Go Homer • The Fat Blue Line • Treehouse of Horror XXX • Gorillas on the Mast • Marge the Lumberjill • Livin La Pura Vida • Thanksgiving of Horror • Todd, Todd, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me? • Bobby, It's Cold Outside • Hail to the Teeth • The Miseducation of Lisa Simpson • Frinkcoin • Bart the Bad Guy • Screenless • Better Off Ned • Highway to Well • The Incredible Lightness of Being a Baby • Warrin' Priests: Part One • Warrin' Priests: Part Two • The Hateful Eight-Year-Olds • The Way of the Dog

[1] Matt Selman on Twitter - "Before we had any idea about the merger"

[2] Matt Selman on Twitter - "The Vindicators"

[3] Matt Selman on Twitter - "Bart the Bad Guy deleted scene"

[4] Matt Selman on Twitter - "Roast koalas"

[5] Matt Selman on Twitter - "Skinner's screensaver"

[6] The Hollywood Reporter - "WGA Awards: 'Promising Young Woman' Wins Original Screenplay, 'Borat 2' Takes Adapted Prize"

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]