The Simpsons fans have been left horrified after realising one of the biggest characters of the show would be "killed off".

The beloved cartoon has run across 36 seasons since 1989, with the family-of-five and all the characters never having aged.

But for the first time, bosses have confirmed Marge's death in a flash forward.

In a recent episode titled Estranger Things, Marge fears what Bart and Lisa's relationship will be like when they're older.

A glimpse into the future, 35 years on, reveals Lisa is living the life we all expected of her, while Bart owns an unlicensed retirement home.

However, Marge has sadly died in her 70s, as they refer to her as their "late mother".

Meanwhile, Homer and other residents are alive, as the patriarch lives in a care programme in Florida.

In the flash forward, Lisa opens a letter written by Marge to read after her death if Homer were to outlive her, where she urges the siblings to stay close to one another.

As Lisa and Bart join forces to break Homer out of his care home, Marge looks down from a cloud before rising up with the help of none other than The Beatles' Ringo Starr.

Viewers were quite shocked to hear of Marge's death being confirmed - though she will reassuringly be returning for the upcoming 37th season later this year.

"Wait, you killed off Marge Simpsons?" one wrote.

Another said: "Yo they killed Marge off the Simpsons?!?!?! What?!?!"

'WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY KILLED MARGE SIMPSON,' someone else penned.

The exact circumstances around how Marge died remained unclear, but could be revealed in the future.

n previous episodes, Bart has also "temporarily died", but the characters have all always returned.

He was murdered multiple times by Sideshow Bob in a Halloween special, Treehouse of Horror, and also died of boredom in Lisa's Thanksgiving story in a season 35 episode.

The Simpsons is available to watch on Disney+