It’s been officially announced that a second Simpsons movie will hit theaters in 2027, 20 years after the first one made its rounds. Back in 2007, The Simpsons, well past their Golden Era, still managed to score both critical and commercial success with their first feature-length release, The Simpsons Movie.
I’m convinced that everyone involved will once again swing for the fences to make sure it’s another resounding success. In my mind, this won’t be as daunting if the showrunners and producers can coax John Swartzwelder out of retirement for one last hurrah.
John Swartzwelder Is Synonymous With Golden Era Simpsons
In Golden Era Simpsons canon, John Swartzwelder holds the title of most prolific writer, with 59 credited episodes to his name between 1990 and 2003. The Simpsons’ writers room even coined the term “Swartzweldian” to describe jokes that capture his one-of-a-kind sense of humor.
Don’t believe me? Look at his filmography. Chances are, most of the lines you still quote came from Swartzwelder. His early credits include classics like “Bart the General” and “Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish.” As the show leaned into surreal gags and more outlandish plots, he gave us gems like “Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?,” “Homer the Vigilante,” “Itchy & Scratchy Land,” “Homer the Great,” “Bart’s Comet,” and “Homer the Smithers.”
Poster for The Simpsons Movie 2
What’s most impressive is that when much of the original Simpsons staff left for other projects, Swartzwelder stuck around to deliver late Golden Era standouts like “You Only Move Twice” and “Homer’s Enemy.” The former gave us Hank Scorpio, a villain who didn’t even give Homer his coat and walked around with loose sugar in his pockets, while the latter introduced us to the infamous Frank Grimes.
Yes, I’m just sitting here listing a bunch of episode titles. That’s because the majority of John Swartzwelder episodes remain the ones die-hard fans flock to in 2025 when they want peak Simpsons, and I had to back my claim with some of my personal favorites.
The Simpsons Has Always Been Written By Committee
Of course, The Simpsons has never been a one-man show. Even though John Swartzwelder’s name is tied to some of the most beloved episodes, the new movie wouldn’t require him to shoulder the burden of penning an entire screenplay.
Early episodes often went through dozens of rewrites, with credit going to whoever wrote the bulk of the first draft. Swartzwelder’s style still bled into scripts credited to others. If the 76-year-old doesn’t want to draft another full script, his presence alone in the writers’ room would be invaluable. Just having him riff on jokes would be enough to sprinkle some Swartzweldian magic into the mix.
Swartzwelder Is A Recluse, But Still Prolific
The biggest challenge might be getting John Swartzwelder into the room at all. To date, there’s only been one published interview with him, in 2021, years after his retirement from the series. He was known to write Simpsons episodes in coffee shops while pounding coffee and chain-smoking. When anti-smoking laws went into effect, he bought the booth he worked from so he could install it in his house and keep writing without interruption. Later, he renegotiated his contract to work from home permanently.
That’s exactly the kind of eccentricity that makes him essential. As The Simpsons barrels through its fourth decade and prepares for a movie sequel two decades in the making, it feels right to get the old band back together. If John Swartzwelder is willing and able to contribute, the movie could capture the spark fans are hoping for. If not, at least we still have the absurdist novels he’s been cranking out since leaving the show.
The Simpsons can be streamed on Disney+.
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