The Simpsons Predicted Richard Branson Going To Space

On July 11, Richard Branson broke a record, becoming the first billionaire in space. Whooopty DOO!!

He was a passenger of a test flight for his company and won the space race against the likes of Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk.

As surprising as it is that out of the three, Branson won, The Simpsons already knew.

Back in 2014, The Simpsons predicted Richard Branson's space voyage. In season 25, the episode "The War of Art," Lisa Simpson meets an art forger who boasts about how his art forgeries have managed to fool people around the world. In another scene, we then see Richard Branson floating in a spaceship while smiling at the painting.

This is just one of the many predictions made by the hit comedy. A most notable prediction was Donald Trump's presidency in the 2000 episode "Bart to the Future."

Other real-life events that were first predicted by The Simpsons are Kamala Harris' inauguration outfit, Disney's acquisition of Fox, the Siegfried and Roy tiger attack, and Lady Gaga's acrobatic Super Bowl halftime show. 

How have the creators been able to create episodes with such spot-on predictions? Are they time travelers?

The Simpsons producer Al Jean explains that the writers and producers don't have a crystal ball into the future, nor are they wizards. They are just really, really smart...Say what?

"I predict people will make too much of our great predictions," Jean told the New York Times in 2018. "When that many smart people produce a television show, it's bound to make some startling 'predictions.'"

"There's a category I would call plausible predictions, which Trump would fall under," Jean added of the Trump presidency prediction. "People have somewhat forgotten, but he was talking about running for president then. So it wasn't somebody totally out of the blue. It was a guy who was a punch-line name and had presidential aspirations."

So, what do you think of this prediction? Do you think, in some form or fashion, the Simpsons creators already knew that Richard Branson would end up in space, or is it just another instance of supposed coincidence. You decide.