John DiMaggio Joins Hulu’s “Futurama” Revival
by Emily Nagle
John DiMaggio has signed on to reprise his role as Bender in the “Futurama” revival on Hulu following fans protesting on Twitter for the past month.
“I’M BACK, BABY! So damn grateful for the love and support of fans and colleagues alike during this whole time (especially my wife, Kate), and I cannot wait to get back to work with my Futurama family,” DiMaggio excitedly announced in a statement. “#Bendergate is officially over, so put it on the back of a shelf behind Xmas decorations, or maybe in that kitchen drawer with all of the other crap you put in there like old unusable crazy glue, or maybe even put it in a jar you save farts in. Whatever floats your boat, I don’t care, you get the picture. I’M BACK, BABY! BITE MY SHINY METAL ASS!”
It was first reported last month that DiMaggio was possibly not returning to “Futurama” due to pay negotiations. In the last update on the show from Hulu and 20th Television Animation, it was stated that Bender would be recast, but Matt Groening said it best: “From the moment John DiMaggio auditioned last century, we knew we had our Bender.” Details on the pay agreement reached by the two parties have not been released, but sources said they were able to come to a happy medium.
The new season of “Futurama” will have 20 episodes, and is set to premiere on Hulu in 2023. This will mark the third time the series is revived, with Comedy Central bringing new episodes of the show back to television twice after it got cancelled by Fox.