Hidden sign The Simpsons secretly killed another iconic character as Marge is ‘killed off’

The Simpsons fans mourning the death of Marge in the latest episode may have missed a subtle sign that another beloved character had been 'killed off' too.

Viewers of the 36-year-old show are sadly seeing more and more fan-favourite characters disappear from Springfield.

Having lost the likes of Bleeding Gums Murphy and Maude Flanders in early seasons, we also said goodbye to the likes of Fat Tony and Edna Krabappel in more recent years, while the ageing of voice actors means we've had to get used to changes in characters like Milhouse Van Houten.

Fans were shocked to realise in the most recent episode of The Simpsons that Marge would be killed off, as we see a future featuring Bart, Lisa and Maggie where they tragically attend their mother's funeral, while Homer somehow manages to survive despite his many heart surgeries and weight issues over the years.

But keen-eyed fans were quick to point out that Marge's gravestone wasn't the only one to feature in the shot, which was shown in the season 36 finale 'Estranger Things'.

Marge watched on from heaven in the final episode (Disney+)

For those of you that missed it, the gravestone of Moe Szyslak can also be seen in the background, with the bartender putting his head in the oven as he has been seen doing on a number of occasions over the past 35 years in Springfield.

Moe, who famously owns his own tavern which is regularly the home of Homer, Carl, Lenny and Barney (apart from his brief experiments with sobriety), has had to deal with a lot in the show since its inception in 1990.

He was the subject of some pretty hilarious prank calls from Bart over the years, where he asks for the likes of Amanda Hugginkiss, Hugh Jass and Ivana Tinkle, but he also had a lot of episodes where he struggles with his mental health and the way that he looks.

Moe's grave was visible in the flash forward sequence (Disney+)

I'll have a Flaming Moe in his memory (Disney+)

While there is no real reference to the fact that he dies as the episode flashes forward 35 years, his gravestone sadly seems to be a nod to his many suicide attempts over the years, although it is not clear from the brief appearance of his final resting place how or when he passes away.

Hopefully fans will still get to see more of Marge and Moe when the show returns for season 37, but this most recent finale certainly seems to suggest that they could both meet their tragic ends before the show concludes, if indeed that ever happens.

Meanwhile, Disney opted to ban an early episode of The Simpsons from streaming, after it memorably featured Michael Jackson as one of the voice actors.