The Simpsons' Biggest Predictions For 2025 And Beyond

What are the Simpsons? Prophets? Time travelers? Lucky guessers? Springfield's favorite dysfunctional family appears to know it all, possessing a litany of stories and jokes that predict the future. While it's fun to look back at the times the animated series got world events right, it's eerie to think of what might lie ahead that the show has already foreseen. It's as if their infamous worn brown couch operates like a crystal ball that allows them to peer into the future whenever they sit down.

A past episode of "The Simpsons" covered the rise of AI in a scary Skynet-inspired fashion, while another delved into the misfire of technology that syncs up with brain activity. The colonization of Mars also wasn't too far out of reach at one point in the series, and neither was the arrival of the first female American president. In terms of more harrowing subject matter, World War III loomed as an inevitability and a major environmental disaster remained on the cards. Scary, right?

Now, don't start panicking and building fallout shelters over the weekend. After all, "The Simpsons" has had over 750 episodes produced and not every single catastrophe or incident has come to fruition. That said, the following events do hit a little too close to home for 2025 and beyond.

Colonizing Mars has long been a feature of sci-fi, especially since the Red Planet remains one of the places in the solar system where life could have existed in the ancient past. In "The Simpsons" episode "The Marge-ian Chronicles," Lisa and her family sign up for trials to become the first colonists on Mars. Ultimately, only Marge and Lisa are chosen from the Simpsons to proceed as colonists. The end goal is for the colony to be put in place by 2026, but it gets delayed to 2051.

In the real world, Elon Musk harbors ambition to start a colony on Mars through his SpaceX program. He envisions that the first humans could be on the planet by 2028 and plans to build a self-sustained city by 2044. Musk hopes to have one million inhabitants living on Mars by 2050 — a year before Marge and Lisa arrive on Mars in "The Simpsons."

However, Musk's Mars mission might be heading toward disaster, according to biologist Kelly Weinersmith. Speaking to CNN, she said, "Musk is saying that in the next 30 years, we're going to have a million people on Mars. No way that you could scale up to a million people on Mars without something catastrophic happening, either in terms of it turns out we can't have babies up there, and moms and babies are dying or getting cancer." For Weinersmith, Mars' conditions remain far too severe for humans to live or even survive.

Sometimes, "The Simpsons" predicts events a little too early on, but they still happen. Take the 2005 episode titled "Future-Drama," for example. Using Professor Fink's machine, Bart and Lisa receive a sneak peek of their lives in 2013. Much like "Back to the Future Part II," the episode overshoots how far advanced society will be in the 2010s, envisioning a world where flying cars are the normal means of transport. Society's biggest obsession in 2013 was actually the onesie rather than hover cars, but a decade or so later, the technology for airborne automobiles caught up with "The Simpsons."

Hyundai promised flying cars for Uber by 2023, but the manufacturer missed that deadline. However, another company, Samson Sky, holds the potential to make this revolutionary vehicle a reality by 2025. In December 2023, Samson Sky's Switchblade took flight for the first time, hovering 500 feet above the ground. At the time, the manufacturer told USA Today it was two years away from producing the car in mass for potential and interested buyers.

The Switchblade will be able to be driven on the ground or flown in the sky; however, those looking to take to the clouds and soar with the birds will require a pilot's license to do so. Expect the vehicle to set back the bank account around $170,000 and upward.

As the world continues to become even more online and connected, our digital personas have gained as much importance as the flesh and blood ones. In addition to this, hologram concerts have started to become more common in entertainment, as deceased performers, such as Elvis Presley and Tupac Shakur, have been brought to life through the use of innovative 3D technology. In 2023, the now-retired rock band KISS announced that the show will go on with their digital avatars, which are set to make their debut in 2027. So, even though the actual members won't be there for a physical appearance, the fans will still be able to watch the digital "KISS" — for a substantial fee, presumably.

"The Simpsons" predicted the rise of digital avatars in the Season 11 episode "Bart to the Future." The events see Bart experience a glimpse of his future in 2030, when he is living with his bandmate Ralph Wiggum. The mailman knocks at their door, but he doesn't bring a physical letter or document. Instead, he pulls out a device that plays a recorded holographic message from club owner Nelson Muntz, who appears as a digital avatar. 

With KISS already dabbling in this type of technology, don't bet against holographic entertainment or messages becoming more prevalent in the near future. At some point, it might even revolutionize the whole concert or live entertainment experience.

One of "The Simpsons'" eerie predictions for 2024 featured AI replacing the human workforce, and it actually started to happen. AI-powered technology such as ChatGPT has taken over jobs where companies want to reduce costs and cut down their workforces. However, experts are warning about the reckless overreliance on AI. As reported by CBS News, Google's AI chatbot Gemini told a user that human beings are "not special" and a "waste of time and resources." For some, it was more of a threat of what's to come, rather than a message gone wrong.

"The Simpsons" warned society about putting faith in artificial intelligence or robots, because they will betray us in the end. In the Season 6 episode "Itchy & Scratchy Land," the Itchy and Scratchy robots attack each other for the crowd's entertainment. It's supposed to be safe for the crowd due to the robots having programming that helps them differentiate between robots and humans. However, a flash of a camera short circuits an animatronic robot, which then influences the others into turning against the humans.

While it might be too early to say that such a bleak future is the only outcome for humanity, the increasing reliance on AI has great potential to backfire, not least due to it being pushed and adopted at a pace in which rigorous testing falls to the bottom of the priority list. And of course, we should be especially wary of any advancement that puts a dangerous weapon in a robot's hands.

The man who has been called the Nostradamus of U.S. presidential elections, Allan Lichtman, predicted a Kamala Harris win in the 2024 race. "The Simpsons" fans thought the same thing because of the episode "Bart to the Future," where Lisa Simpson enters the White House and serves as the U.S. president. However, it appears as if people didn't pay close-enough attention to the minor details of the episode.

When Lisa takes office, the year is 2030. This means a female president would only be likely after the 2028 election race — not 2024. The episode does align with real-life events and timelines in another way, though, as it's mentioned that Lisa inherited issues from President Donald Trump, who would be the natural predecessor of whoever has assumed the presidency in 2030.

It's no secret the Democratic Party is unhappy about its performance in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, but Harris insisted that the party lost the battle but not the war, and that the fight will continue. So, maybe she will return for the 2028 campaign, or there will be a new female candidate to ensure this "Simpsons" prediction comes true.

In 2007's "The Simpsons Movie," Homer adopts a pig. While most people commonly refer to the creature as Spider-Pig, its given name is Plopper in the film. Homer's laziness catches up with him, though, and it's up to his wife, Marge, to remind him that he needs to get rid of the pig feces in the correct manner. Worried he won't make it back in time for free donuts, Homer dumps the waste in the lake, which turns the situation into one of the worst toxic spills in history. It all culminates in an environmental disaster that quarantines Springfield and puts the town under a massive dome.

Of course, Homer's actions are dramatized for comedic effect here, but it's a reminder of what can happen if everyone does the same and ignores looming environmental concerns. As demonstrated by the movie, a combination of pollution and lack of concern and care for the environment results in serious consequences.

In fact, the UN Environment Programme issued a startling report in 2024. According to the data, "the world is in the midst of a triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution and waste. The global economy is consuming ever more natural resources, while the world is not on track to meet the Sustainable Development Goals." In other words, things look bleak and catastrophe really is on the cards, unless people start taking environmental matters more seriously.

The "Treehouse of Horror" episodes remain popular among "The Simpsons" fans. Not only do they carry the spooky spirit of Halloween, they also parody absolutely anything and everything under the sun. In the 27th edition of this annual series, Homer takes his family Christmas tree shopping on Halloween, stating that in America, everything happens early. Then he reveals a badge that reads: "Ivanka 2028."

It's an interesting prediction. Since there is a two-term limit on the presidency in the U.S., Donald Trump won't be allowed to run for the highest office in the country in 2028. However, that isn't stopping another Trump from stepping up to the plate: Ivanka. Trump's daughter served as an advisor during his first term in office; however, in 2022 she stated she wouldn't take part in the campaign trail again. Instead, she wanted to focus on taking care of her young children and enjoying her family life.

Her mind might change at some point in the future, though. Once Ivanka's children grow up, she might feel the itch to get back into the political game, and if "The Simpsons" is to be believed, might even mount her own campaign for the presidency.

In modern times, the entertainment landscape finds itself in a precarious state. With the rise of streaming and the decreased interest in linear television, media companies and networks continue to adapt and evolve. In October 2024, for example, news emerged that ABC Signature would cease operations, seeing its teams accumulated as a part of 20th TV. Realistically, it won't be the last change as mergers and acquisitions are set to run rampant in the media industry in the near future.

It appears as if "The Simpsons" might have been onto the trend as far back as 1995. In the Season 6 episode "Lisa's Wedding," Lisa gets a glimpse of her future life after visiting a fortune teller. While the viewers stay stuck in the dream sequence for the majority of the episode, reporter Kent Brockman appears on the television to read the news of the day. In the background, the name of the network stands out: "CNNBCBS — a division of ABC." Essentially, there are four companies merged here: ABC, CNN, NBC, and CBS.

It looks like a gag, but it somehow served as a precursor of what was to come a few decades later. After all, who could have predicted Disney acquiring 20th Century Fox or even Warner Bros. merging with Discovery? Don't be surprised to see media company mergers get even more outrageous in the years to come.

Virtual reality isn't new tech by any means. Yet, with each passing year, the possibilities grow exponentially higher. In September 2024, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed details about the Orion AR glasses. The wearable tech aims to create a holographic augmented reality for the user, and Zuckerberg envisions these glasses to become the next big thing in computing after the evolution of mobile phones.

Not only does Orion sound like something out of Tony Stark's laboratory in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but there was also a similar concept explored in "The Simpsons" Season 26 episode "Friends and Family." Here, Mr. Burns discovers Professor Fink's virtual reality glasses and begins to play with the concept of having a family in the digital world. By the end of the episode, all of Springfield's citizens use virtual reality glasses to explore their own respective digital realities.

In theory, a version of this behavior already exists as most people are glued to their phones and stuck on social media, but it's possible that virtual reality will be the next step in fully immersing everyone into an augmented universe à la "Ready Player One."

In early 2024, news broke that Elon Musk's startup company Neuralink implanted its first chip in a human brain. Essentially, the goal of this implant is to allow people with quadriplegia to control computers and devices with only their thoughts. It's a game-changing innovation; however, there are concerns about how the technology could be used when in the wrong hands. There's also the possibility that it could be rolled out on a mass scale and become a new way of communicating with others, much like a messaging app.

"The Simpsons" visited such a possibility, called B-Mail, in the Season 23 episode "Holidays of Future Passed." This futuristic episode set in 2041 sees Homer receive an electronic mail that he accesses with his brain. Unfortunately, the mail contains a virus and causes pain to Homer.

Viruses and malware attacks have plagued modern information technology since its early days, and who's to say the same wouldn't happen with brain chips? There's also the potential abuse by those controlling the technology. In the same way that Apple once forced the U2 album "Songs of Innocence" onto everyone's iTunes, which still stands as one of the most questionable decisions in music industry history, future brain implants might also come preloaded with unwanted apps. Brain-X, anyone?

It seems like this is "The Simpsons" prediction that everyone believes will happen every year, but no one can dispute that at the end of 2024, international relations were at their most fragile state in a long time. Whether it's the fractious relationship between nations that were once seen as allies or the numerous and ever-present conflicts taking place worldwide, 2025 came with fears of World War III being just around the corner.

The Simpsons tackled this topic in a short on "The Tracey Ullman Show" in 1987. While World War III doesn't actually break out in the episode, the story features Homer trying to prepare his family for it, then being disappointed when they don't react with the desired response or urgency. Eventually, his family tricks him into believing a real war has broken out, only to lock him in the fallout shelter until morning so they can have some peace and quiet.

In a way, this short showcases how no one can be certain if World War III is going to happen or not. The threat looms, but it might amount to nothing in the end ... hopefully.