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Every January, while some people read horoscopes or manifest “soft life” energy, the internet does something far more unhinged: it consults The Simpsons. Because somehow, an animated sitcom that started in the late 1980s has an unsettling habit of predicting real-world chaos. Donald Trump becoming president? Yep. Twitter rebranding itself as X? Nailed it. Lady Gaga flying through the Super Bowl halftime show? Called it.
So naturally, as 2026 unfolds, the question is not if something weird will happen, but how many Simpsons episodes we will end up revisiting with dread. The show never attaches dates to its predictions, but some storylines feel a little too close for comfort this year. Buckle up.
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Fox | Every new year, people turn to The Simpsons to find out what horrifying things could coming, because the animated comedy makes some eerily correct predictions, so what’s in store for 2026?
A super flu that spirals out of control
If it feels like everyone you know has been ill lately, The Simpsons would like to say: this is just the beginning. In the 1993 episode Marge in Chains, a fictional “Osaka Flu” spreads to Springfield through global shipping routes. While the illness itself is not catastrophic, the panic absolutely is.
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Fox | The 1993 episode “Marge in Chains” is about the spread of a fictional “Osaka Flu” which gets to Springfield through shipping.
The episode highlights misinformation, public hysteria and how fragile healthcare systems can be under pressure. Sound familiar? The prediction is less about a deadly virus and more about how badly humans handle uncertainty. If 2026 teaches us anything, it might be that we still have not learned our lesson.
AI quietly replacing your job
According to Springfield, the robots are not coming. They are already here. A 2012 episode shows Mr Burns replacing human workers at the nuclear power plant with machines because they are cheaper, faster and do not complain.
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Fox | A 2012 episode called “Them, Robot” shows a world where robots take over Springfield’s careers.
While the show framed this as satire, AI has already entered workplaces at a terrifying pace. From creative industries to customer service, automation is no longer a future threat. It is a present reality. The Simpsons prediction is not about technology turning evil, but about capitalism doing what it does best: cutting costs at any human expense.
Smart homes that know too much
It is not just your job that might disappear. Your privacy could go with it. In Treehouse of Horror XII, the Simpson family moves into a fully voice-controlled smart house that slowly turns sinister.
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Fox | The Simpsons has predicted a life where smart technology takes over your home life too.
While we laugh at the idea of homes going rogue, we already live surrounded by listening devices, smart lighting and algorithm-controlled appliances. The line between convenience and control is getting thinner. In 2026, the question is no longer whether technology runs our homes, but whether we are okay with it knowing everything about us.
Space travel for (almost) everyone
In 1994, Homer Simpson went to space. At the time, it felt ridiculous. Now, not so much. Private space companies and celebrity space trips have made the idea of non-astronauts leaving Earth feel oddly normal.
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Fox | In the 1994 episode “Deep Space Homer, ” The Simpson dad is sent to space as NASA tries to make space exploration and travel more accessible to the public.
While most of us are not boarding rockets anytime soon, The Simpsons prediction reflects a shift: space is no longer just for scientists. It is becoming a playground for the rich, the famous and the curious. And that is both exciting and slightly dystopian.
Climate chaos turning up the volume
Extreme weather has always been a background character in The Simpsons. From brutal blizzards to toxic environmental disasters, Springfield is constantly battling nature pushed to its limits.
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Fox | In the 1992 episode “Homer the Heretic, ” Homer doesn’t want to go to church because a severe blizzard hits Springfield, so we can expect more freak weather this year.
The show’s warnings about pollution, climate negligence and freak weather events feel painfully relevant in 2026. If anything, the prediction is less about one disaster and more about a pattern. Climate change is no longer subtle. It is loud, unpredictable and impossible to ignore.
Aliens: The year we finally get answers?
Every year, people joke that this will be the year aliens make contact. In The Springfield Files, Homer claims he encounters an extraterrestrial, sparking an FBI investigation.
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Fox | However, a 1997 episode called “The Springfield Files” follows two FBI agents as they visit Springfield to investigate an alien that Homer claims he has seen in the woods.
While actual aliens might still be a stretch, increased conversations around UFO sightings and unexplained phenomena make this prediction oddly timely. Whether it is aliens or just government secrets finally surfacing, 2026 might bring some cosmic curveballs.
The end of the world, again
The Simpsons has flirted with doomsday more than once. In Thank God, It Is Doomsday, Homer becomes obsessed with the idea that the apocalypse is imminent after watching a film about the Rapture.
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Fox | Warnings and threats come every year and never actually amount to anything. But a 2005 episode called “Thank God, It’s Doomsday” has people scared about the end of the world.
The episode captures something deeply human: our constant fear that everything is about to end. With global instability, climate anxiety and endless bad news cycles, it is easy to feel like the world is perpetually on the brink. Maybe the prediction is not about the end itself, but about how obsessed we are with imagining it.
The shadow of World War Three
Perhaps the most unsettling predictions involve global conflict. Across multiple episodes, The Simpsons references World War Three as something narrowly avoided or already fought in the future.
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Fox | In a 1987 short, Homer is convinced WW3 has started and tells the family to hide in a bomb shelter in the garden.
In a time of rising geopolitical tensions, these moments hit differently. While the show treats them with humour, the underlying fear is very real. The hope is that, unlike Springfield, we do not need a cartoon warning to choose peace.
English (US) ·