Fans of The Simpsons believe that the show predicted actor Tom Hanks would be struck with the coronavirus.
The iconic animated TV show has been known to foresee major world events – from Donald Trump’s presidency to the discovery of a three-eyed mutant fish to the erection of London skyscraper The Shard.
The show previously ‘predicted’ the coronavirus itself – with 1993 episode Marge In Chains featuring a far-eastern virus sweeping the planet and infecting the residents of Springfield.
Fans now believe the writers foretold that actor Hanks, 63, would have to self-isolate one day, as news broke that the Hollywood star and his wife, Rita Wilson, caught COVID-19 while filming Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley biopic on location in Australia.
In 2007’s The Simpsons Movie – the show’s big screen version of the show – Hanks makes a cameo appearance, advertising a ‘new Grand Canyon’ because the main one has ‘gotten boring’.
After appearing in an ad for the canyon – in which he claims ‘the US government has lost its credibility so its borrowing some of mine’ – the Apollo 13 actor then says: ‘This is Tom Hanks saying if you see me in person, please, leave me be.’
While the theory is somewhat of a stretch, hardcore fans of the show are happily adding this to the ever-growing list of Simpsons predictions.
Fans of the show took to Twitter to discuss the similarities – despite the fact the virus on The Simpsons came from Japan while the current coronavirus outbreak originated in Wuhan in China.
Some are so convinced they even took the time to edit ‘Osaka flu’ to ‘Coronavirus’ in Kent Brockman’s news report.