Bart performs a YouTube challenge of suspending yourself from a flagpole resulting in Milhouse getting injured. An actor for a superhero movie visits Milhouse while he's in physical rehab and mistakes Bart for Milhouse. While passed out, Bart takes the actor's laptop to view a superhero movie before it officially airs and now blackmails the town with spoilers.
- All for Nothing: The final joke is that immediately after the first screenings everyone went online to spoil the movie anyway, regardless if everyone has had a chance to see it.
- All There in the Manual: Vindicator members Hydrangea and Quetzellacota are only named in promotional materials for the episode.
- Badass Normal: Airsoft is allegedly this as the Hawkeye expy of the Vindicators but at one point he literally blows a hole in the torso of an enemy that has him pinned.
- Biting-the-Hand Humor: This episode shows that, although they are owned by Disney now, the show is still not going easy on them. When the bomb under Marge and Homer's bed is deactivated, the display is in the Disney logo font (complete with capital backwards G looking "D"), and an ominous version of "When You Wish Upon a Star" plays in the background.
- Borrowin' Samedi: Black Voodoo, the Marble equivalent of Black Panther. He's wearing the suit and bone-decorated top hat over his vibranium suit, and he's seen using a voodoo doll.
- Brick Joke: Bart tells Homer to tell Marge to let him pour soda on his cereal and a later scene has him pouring Buzz cola into his cereal bowl.
- Celebrity Paradox: The Marble Cinematic Universe is introduced this episode, and no points for guessing what it's a parody of. Trouble is, Marvel Comics has already been established to exist in the Simpsons universe, as shown in the episodes guest-starring the late Stan Lee, plus the real Thanos appeared during a Couch Gag in last season's "The Simpsons S 30 E 12 The Girl On The Bus".
- Continuity Nod: One of Bart's chalkboard gags says "The principal's toupee is not a frisbee." In this episode, Bart demands Skinner's toupee to not spoil the movie. This doubles as a
Development Gag, for different reasons. - Dead Man Switch: Bart warns Fat Tony that if he's killed, Homer will blab the spoiler to everyone in town.
- Do Not Do This Cool Thing: In-Universe: To warn students about the "flagging yourself challenge", rather than explain what it is and why it's dangerous, Skinner just shows them a video of a famous YouTuber doing it, thinking that it'll dissuade them from doing it. Naturally, it has the opposite effect on Bart.
- Expy: Three guesses what the Marble Cinematic Universe is based on.
- Reaction Guy is one to real life YouTuber Tal Fishman a.k.a. Reaction Time, who also does the voice.
- Epic Fail: Quimby is unable to pronounce "Quinceañeras" correctly, so he called them "Mexican Bar Mitzvahs"
- Fake American: In-universe: Glen "The Tasmanian Adonis" Tangier plays American Airshot in the Vindicator movies, and half-heartedly tries to keep it up in real life.
- Heel Realization: Bart eventually realizes he's basically a villain by threatening to spoil the movie and when he thinks he's in a world where the superhero movies are real, turns down superpowers from the movie's actual villain.
- Irony: The town cowers in front of Bart's spoiler powers and he has to be taught a lesson, but the first people to see it on opening night immediately spoil the movie anyway.
- Literally Shattered Lives: Chinnos' use of the doomsday app crystallizes everyone before pulverizing them rather than turning them to dust.
- Magitek: Instead of an Infinity Gauntlet, the Marble Cinematic Universe has Chinnos warp reality using a Doomsday App on a golden smart phone.
- Mythology Gag: Skinner's favorite Vindicator is apparently Black Voodoo, "Hero of the Big Easy". Skinner's character in the fake Chief Wiggum spinoff was from New Orleans himself.
- Nerf Arm: True to his name the ersatz Hawkeye of the Vindicators named Airsoft has an airsoft gun that requires pumping and shoots little balls. Said balls are capable of homing in on targets and blows Chinnos' head up on impact. It's implied that more pumps equals more power and Milhouse reacts with awe that he uses five pumps for Chinnos.
- No-Sell: Bart's spoilers don't work on Homer because he doesn't care about the movie. However, Homer is still able to use the spoilers to his advantage by getting Bart to spoil the movie for Moe, scoring free beer for himself, Lenny, Carl, and Barney.
- Only Sane Man: In a rare moment, Homer, the only one not caught up in the spoiler madness that causes the whole town to cave to Bart's whims.
- "Open!" Says Me: Bart kicks open the door to the Comic Book Dungeon to harass Comic Book Guy with spoilers to the Vindicator movie. Lampshaded with a sign on the door that reads "No Dynamic Entering".
- Parody Assistance: Several people associated with the Marvel Cinematic Universe lend their voices to this episosde. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige voices the Thanos stand-in Chinnos, Cobie Smulders voices one of the Vindicators, and directors The Russo Brothers play the two Marble Studio executives.
- Scare 'Em Straight: Bart is placed in a virtual reality simulation made to trick him into thinking the movie universe is real and that the villains used his knowledge to kill one of the heroes.
- Schmuck Bait: In-universe Homer laments that Bart is dumb enough to fall for Marble Studio's ploy.
- Secret Test of Character: After tricking Bart into believing that all of the heroes of the Marble film universe are real and that spoiling the movie has life-or-death consequences for them, the simulation tests whether Bart will reveal spoilers anyway by having the series' Big Bad offer him superpowers in exchange for his knowledge. Though the studio is a pretty evil organization in its own right and has purely financial motivations for conducting such a test, it's a tense moment for Marge as she dreads what it could reveal about Bart's character, and she cheers when he rejects the offer.
- Serious Business: Spoiling the new Vindicators movie is considered serious enough that Bart is able to blackmail the whole town into bowing to his will. The Marble Studios executives go one better and claim that spoiling would cause the economy to collapse, and are willing to not only traumatize a child with a virtual reality scenario, but have his parents killed as a failsafe.
- Shout-Out:
- Upon returning home—really just waking up from the virtual reality—and changing for the better, Bart acts like Ebenezer Scrooge.
- Airshot's insignia is the emblem of the Air Nomads.
- Skewed Priorities: Marge is upset about Bart in the simulation because she's worried he'll choose to be a villain. Homer is worried that Bart is dumb enough to fall for it in the first place.
- Spiteful Spoiler: After seeing the movie a month early, Bart weaponizes this trope to get what he wants out of people.
- Swirlie: Martin gives himself one to escape Bart's spoiler.
- What a Drag: While performing the flagging yourself challenge, the cannon where they tied the other end of the rope Bart is tied to comes loose and starts rolling downhill. After Bart unties himself and climbs down, the rope snags onto Milhouse's leg and drags him down a flight of stairs.
- What You Are in the Dark: In the final act, Bart is tricked into believing all the Marble film characters are real and is given a chance to join forces with the film series' Big Bad, Chinnos, and be given superpowers for it by giving Chinnos the film's spoilers. A bargain that he rejects. For all Bart knows, the whole ordeal was real and not a simulation set up by the Marble Studios executives. This also shows something about Bart's character.
- Would Hurt a Child: Fat Tony is perfectly willing to slit the throat of ten-year-old Bart to prevent him from revealing spoilers to the Vindicator movie.
- Yet Another Christmas Carol: Bart waking up in his backyard after being freed from the simulation, asking his parents what day it is and running around town repenting of his evil deeds, plus the closing narration, obviously spoof A Christmas Carol (with a bit of The Grinch in the way he returns all the goods he blackmailed out of everyone).
