The Real Reason Lisa Is Thor In The Good, The Bart, And The Loki

"Loki" is now in its final stages on Disney+. With just one more episode of the series to enjoy, fans are chomping at the bit to see how Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and those around him will take down the Time Variance Authority, and whether they'll uncover its true leader. 

In the rush to watch the newest "Loki" episode, Disney+ subscribers might have missed an original short film that also premiered on Wednesday, July 7. It's a crossover event of sorts, but it might not be what you'd expect. It's called "The Good, the Bart, and the Loki," and it combines two of the biggest Disney-owned properties: "The Simpsons" and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The six-minute animated short has the trickster god being sent to Earth once again as punishment for his crimes, and this time he is exiled to a place even worse than Hel: Springfield.

After hurtling towards the fictional town, Loki (voiced by Tom Hiddleston) lands in the Simpsons' backyard. There, he meets Bart Simpson (Nancy Cartwright), and the two quickly strike up a friendship as Loki is "adopted" into the Simpson family. After criticizing Loki's abuse of power at the dinner table, Lisa Simpson (Yeardley Smith) is magically sent by the God of Mischief into the dark cells of Asgard. It just so happens that Loki's brother Thor has carelessly left his trusty hammer Mjolnir lying around, and when Lisa ventures to pick it up, she comes to possess the mighty god's powers. If anyone is worthy of the Power of Thor, it's Lisa Simpson, right?

It may seem obvious as to why Lisa was chosen to be Thor in the animated short. The sibling rivalry between Bart and Lisa is, after all, strikingly similar to that between Thor and Loki. However, this is also another reason why the young prodigy was found worthy to wield Mjolnir, as "The Simpsons" executive producer Al Jean recently revealed.

In a recent interview with Variety, Al Jean answered a few questions regarding "The Simpsons: The Good, the Bart, and the Loki." This is the second time that "The Simpsons" has made a crossover short for Disney+, the first being a "Star Wars" parody titled "The Force Awakens from Its Nap." Jean told Variety that it was show creator Matt Groening's idea to have the Simpsons "invade" the Disney+ universe, and Disney was more than happy to oblige.

For "The Good, the Bart, and the Loki," the team of writers drew from the MCU films as well as the original series on Disney+. In the post-credits scene, you can see an animated parody of a scene taken from the "Loki" pilot episode. Additionally, in the short, twin sisters Patty and Selma (voiced by Julie Kavner) are modeled after the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) from "WandaVision." As for Lisa's transformation into Thor, Variety asked Jean whether this was a nod to the upcoming MCU feature "Thor: Love and Thunder."

"Absolutely" was Jean's definitive, one-word response. He also noted, "To me, it was really funny that, you know, now that Lisa is Thor, she even has that over Bart, so he's really aggravated. The parallel between Bart and Lisa and Loki and Thor is pretty clear."

For those in the dark, Natalie Portman will be returning in the next "Thor" film as Jane Foster, who will become Mighty Thor. This event happened in the Marvel comics as well, during the 2014 run of "Thor: God of Thunder." While fans are certainly eager to see Jane wielding the hammer when "Thor: Love and Thunder" is released on May 6, 2022, they can check out Lisa Simpson's stint as the Marvel superhero on Disney+ right now.