Posted in: Hulu, Preview, streaming, TV | Tagged: bender, futurama, hulu, jogn dimaggio

Futurama: John DiMaggio Returns for Hulu Revival: "I'm Back, Baby!"

Published Tue, 01 Mar 2022 16:14:10 -0600

Bender is back! Voice actor John DiMaggio will be joining Billy West, Katey Sagal, Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche, Lauren Tom, Phil LaMarr, and David Herman on Hulu, David X. Cohen & Matt Groening's 20-episode Futurama revival. "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 said 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!" The decision comes after a stand-off between the voice actor, the streaming service & the studio (more on that below). "From the moment John DiMaggio auditioned last century, we knew we had our Bender," said Groening. "So congrats to everyone at 'Futurama.' We're all back, baby!" Cohen added, "John DiMaggio may be a great robot, but he's also a great human being. Not many people or machines can say that. For the fourth time, it's a once-in-a-lifetime thrill to be back with our entire original cast and the phenomenal animators of Rough Draft Studios!"

Last month, DiMaggio took to Twitter to explain why things had gotten to this point and to make it clear that it's not that he thinks that he deserves to be paid more as much as "the entire cast does." He goes on to explain that negotiations are part of the process and a very personal one at that. "Bender is part of my soul & nothing about this is meant to be disrespectful to the fans or my 'Futurama' family," DiMaggio continued, stressing that back-n-forth was about a sense of self-respect and doing his part to make sure that an "artist's time & talent" are fairly compensated. "Still hoping for the best," DiMaggio wrote towards the end of the post as he thanked everyone for their love and support.