Even after 25 (!) seasons and 550 (!!) episodes, “The Simpsons” shows that it can still surprise us.

Much of the ambitious animation recently has come courtesy of the opening couch gag, where everyone from Banksy to Guillermo Del Toro has graced our favorite yellow family with their unique styles and voices.

But “Brick Like Me,” the 550th “Simpsons” episode, is the creative team’s most ambitious outing in years. Every single part of Springfield gets LEGO-fied. The level of care put into the episode is stunning, and the unique animation brings to mind the “Treehouse of Horror VI” segment Homer³, which rendered Homer and Bart in a then-novel 3D CGI.

In addition to the wonderful animation, the episode, which could have been a cheap retread of “The LEGO Movie,” is actually really good, with some of the most clever “Simpsons” writing in years, all grounded in a surprisingly touching backstory. It took almost two years to produce, and the work definitely paid off.

While most of the episode is overflowing in gags and Easter eggs, here are 13 fantastic moments you need to look out for to get the most out of “Brick Like Me.”

13. Watch Every Sign

Every storefront in LEGO Springfield has undergone a LEGO transformation. Sure, there are some easy ones (Brick-E-Mart), but there are some really creative ways the writing team was able to transform Springfield’s most famous attractions into the brick world.

12. Homer’s Work Outfit

This is a nice little Easter egg for big “Simpsons” fans, as the ...

“Garfield Minus Garfield” is one of the greatest examples of the internet using its creative powers for good.

The concept of the rejiggered comic strip is that, if you take the lasagna-loving cat out of his own comics, it leaves his owner Jon as a borderline schizophrenic who talks to himself, a depressing, existential look at a lonely man’s life.

“The Amazing Spider-Man 2” also just happens to include a Garfield: one Andrew Garfield, who plays the title character. So in the vein of “Garfield Minus Garfield” we decided to see what it would be like if we took Peter Parker out of the first movie of the franchise, our own “Amazing Spider-Man Without (Andrew) Garfield”.

As it turns out, it’s actually pretty sad, with Gwen Stacy imagining a boyfriend to compensate for her loneliness, Uncle Ben imagining his brother’s long-lost nephew to deal with his grief, and even big bad The Lizard imagining a nemesis as he dives further into madness.

Check it out, and be prepared to deal with the existential angst the video is sure to bring out.

“The Amazing Spider-Man 2″ opens May 2.

Craig Flaster

With reporting by Josh Horowitz

Hans Zimmer and Pharrell Williams‘ theme for Electro in “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” is insane… in all the right ways.

“It started with going, I wanted to put some voices into Jamie’s head,” Zimmer said when MTV News caught up with the composer on the film’s New York red carpet. “And so I said to Pharrell, hey, why don’t we write an opera? And I don’t think anybody’s ever said to Pharrell, ‘let’s write an opera.’ ”

If we can get more crazy music like Electro’s theme, which includes a rhythmic chant repeating all the things that make Electro angry over an ominous but driving bass riff by legendary guitarist Johnny Marr, then Zimmer and Pharrell should start writing a few more superhero operas. Though if they did, it might drive them as insane as Electro himself.

“We were all in the room and it was buzzing like crazy,” Zimmer explained, “until Pharell finally said ‘Stop, stop! I gotta walk around the block. I think my head is exploding.’ ”

And what fancy recording equipment did the composer use for this epic, operatic theme?

“It’s just my iphone, of us recording us as we’re writing it,” Zimmer added.

“High technology. No expense spared,” Marr joked right back.

“The Amazing Spider-Man 2″ opens May 2.

Craig Flaster

Spider-Man and the X-Men often team up in the comics, and if “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” director Marc Webb had anything to say about it, they would do it on the big screen too.

“Certainly there’s precedent in the comics for a crossover. I would love to see it as a fan,” Webb said, though he quickly added, “I’m not in control of that.”

Though Webb would love to see Spidey and Wolverine in the same room together, he also talked about the virtue of Spider-Man as a standalone character.

“A big part of Spider-Man is him being alone and having to face the problems in the world and his own problems alone,” said Webb. “That’s part of what makes Spider-Man so great.”

Recently, there’s been more and more speculation of the webslinger meeting the mutants, especially since “X-Men” producer Simon Kinberg said that such a crossover would be “the dream.”

As Webb said, he’s not in control, and it probably won’t happen any time soon, but he “would be certainly curious about it.”

For fans everywhere, that’s the understatement of the century.

Craig Flaster

Marvel is the king of comic book movies right now, but DC is trying to punch back.

DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. recently announced that they’re using “Man of Steel” and 2016′s “Superman Vs. Batman” as the springboard from which DC will launch its own cinematic universe, starting with Zach Snyder‘s “Justice League.” But DC is in uncharted territory here. Not only has it never had its movie properties exist in the same universe, but it’s also playing as the underdog.

If they’re going to succeed, DC is going to have to avoid some dangers from the pages of its own comic books to translate them into worldwide phenomena, just like Marvel has done. Here are six dangers the studio faces, and how it can avoid them.

6) So … Many … Storylines
DC was founded in 1934, and launched its first superhero — Superman — in 1938. That’s over 75 years of content to draw from for movies, from one character alone! It could be very, very easy for DC to get lost in a sea of its own history, trying to cram in villains and storylines from almost 3/4 of a century of superhero history.

Avoid Through A Singular Vision

Instead of getting sucked down the rabbit hole of content, DC needs to make sure it has a clear idea of what tone it wants to take for “Justice League,” what era of comics it’s invoking, and which writers it wants to emulate. Having Zack Snyder at the helm of both “Superman Vs. Batman” and “Justice League” will help insure that ...