The Simpsons fans devastated as show 'kills off' one of the main characters for first time ever

Fans of The Simpsons have been left devastated as the show has 'killed off' one of the show's main characters for the first time in its history.

The longest-running animated series in history has garnered quite the reputation over the years for correctly predicting events that will happen in the years ahead.

Notable jokes on the popular show have included Lady Gaga's flying entrance into the Super Bowl, the US battling murder hornets, a disease eerily similar to Covid-19 and Donald Trump reaching The White House.

While that's perhaps the most impressive part of The Simpsons, the characters of course play a crucial role in the show's success.

For those of you who haven't been keeping up with the show in recent years, we've lost regular characters such as Fat Tony and Edna Krabappel, while Ned Flanders became a widower for the second time following the earlier death of Maude.

The Simpsons has now been running for 36 seasons and counting, and in the finale of the latest season, the show's creators 'killed off' none other than Marge Simpson.

Fans have been left devastated by the latest episode of season 36 (Disney)

The final episode, titled Estranger Things, follows Bart and Lisa's relationship over the years as Marge becomes concerned over them drifting apart when they stopped watching episodes of Itchy and Scratchy together.

The episodes then flash forwards 35 years in the future, which sees Lisa thriving with a successful career while Bart runs an unlicensed retirement home.

And surprisingly, Lisa and Bart discuss their 'late mother' - meaning Marge must have died sometime before her early 70s.

Homer is also encountered during the episode, found in a care programme in Florida alongside Mr Skinner and Milhouse, but Marge is nowhere to be seen.

When Lisa discovers a letter written by Marge to be opened when she 'passes on', she reunites with Bart and helps break Homer out of Florida. Marge is then seen ascending to heaven with the help of The Beatles’ Ringo Starr.

Fans have flocked to social media devastated that Marge appears to have had an earlier death than we'd all hoped.

The Simpsons fans have been left shocked by Marge's premature passing (Fox)

"I haven’t even watched The Simpsons in 10+ years but they really killed MARGE?!" one person penned on Twitter.

A second added: "WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY KILLED MARGE SIMPSON," while a third remarked: "Yo they killed Marge off the Simpsons!?!?!?! WHAT?!?!"

While The Simpsons may have been on our screens for a long time, there's no doubt the show has been the victim of a lot of negativity over the years - something the programme's creator feels has actually helped the show.

Matt Groening told Variety: "One of the best things that ever happened in the course of the show was that some people forbade the show."