While longtime Futurama voice actor John DiMaggio hasn’t yet issued a statement regarding his absence from Hulu’s series revival, he’s still managed to get his sentiments on the matter across, via a series of fairly pointed retweets.
“Without @TheJohnDiMaggio #Futurama & @hulu can bite my metal shiny ass,” read one fan message shared by DiMaggio via his official Twitter account.
“really hoping they ensure @TheJohnDiMaggio is in the new futurama. “Should that not happen, Bender will be recast.” how high are they?” read another. “(“LETS GET MORE FUTURAMA, DO WE REALLY NEED JOHN?” ahh yes, yes you do).”
“They need to get the deal done with @TheJohnDiMaggio or we’ve got a problem,” a third Twitter user declared, with another exclaiming, “Come on, pay the man! @TheJohnDiMaggio.”
Related Story 'Futurama' Revived At Hulu With Original Cast, John DiMaggio Not Returning As Bender - For Now
Hulu finalized deals for 20 new episodes of Matt Groening and David X. Cohen’s cult animated series today, after months of negotiations. Groening and Cohen are both returning for the new season, set to premiere in 2023, as previously reported, along with the majority of the series’ voice cast, including Billy West, Katey Sagal, Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche, Lauren Tom, Phil LaMarr and David Herman.
DiMaggio, who voiced foul-mouthed robot Bender and an assortment of other characters, was the one notable absence from today’s announcement, after failing to agree to a deal with Futurama studio 20th Television Animation, similar to that negotiated for his fellow leads West and Sagal. Deadline hears that while his roles are currently being recast ahead of the first table read on Monday, there is still a desire on both sides for him to return.
First airing on Fox from 1999-2003, Futurama focuses on the life of Philip Fry (West), a 25-year-old pizza delivery boy who accidentally freezes himself on December 31, 1999 and wakes up 1,000 years later with a fresh start at life and a “diverse” new group of friends including Leela (Sagal), a tough but lovely one-eyed mutant and Bender, a robot who possesses human characteristics and flaws.
Hulu’s revival of the show is the third. It was first brought back in 2007 after being canceled midway through production on Season 4, with four direct-to-DVD movies that aired as 30-minute episodes on Comedy Central sparking interest in new seasons. Its second revival came about in 2010.
The series developed by Groening and Cohen is produced by 20th Television Animation—a part of Disney Television Studios—with Rough Draft Studios, Inc. contributing the animation. All past seasons of the show are currently available for streaming on Hulu.
The posts retweeted by DiMaggio on Wednesday can be found below.
Without @TheJohnDiMaggio #Futurama & @hulu can bite my metal shiny asshttps://t.co/zJzW7xvU50 pic.twitter.com/mU1hyoCMAb
— tom42 (@go2tom42) February 9, 2022
really hoping they ensure @TheJohnDiMaggio is in the new futurama. "Should that not happen, Bender will be recast." how high are they? ("LETS GET MORE FUTURAMA, DO WE REALLY NEED JOHN?" ahh yes, yes you do)
— Greg Tangey (@ruxton) February 9, 2022
Good news… Almost everyone. They need to get the deal done with @TheJohnDiMaggio or we’ve got a problem.@ericlopez247 https://t.co/4WJkF3ztOM
Come on, pay the man! @TheJohnDiMaggio https://t.co/axOwSbl1iC
Agreed. He is THE Bender. End of story.
— Chris W. Brown (@ChrisBr6511) February 9, 2022
I heard @TheJohnDiMaggio hasn't signed on yet. What's up with that??
— Keith Rieger (@Smokefromashes) February 9, 2022
Ok I take it back… I WAS happy till I saw this. I'm sorry but there is only one person who can voice Bender and that's @TheJohnDiMaggio pic.twitter.com/IvKucLvmjv
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