Futurama on Hulu: Cast, #Bendergate and Everything to Know
Good news, everyone! Twenty new episodes are hitting the streaming service in 2023.
- I've been covering technology and mobile for 12 years, first as a telecommunications reporter and assistant editor at ZDNet in Australia, then as CNET's West Coast head of breaking news, and now in the Thought Leadership team.
Kiss Bender's shiny metal ass.
Futurama is being rebooted again, meatbags. The beloved 2000s animated series will be hitting Disney-owned streaming service Hulu next year for an entirely new season, more than 20 years after it first aired.
With all the original voice actors and executive producers signing on to the project, it's definitely worth getting excited about.
Here's everything we know so far about the Futurama reboot.
A brief history of Futurama
Futurama is an animated comedy series that follows Fry, a delivery boy who accidentally gets cryogenically frozen while delivering a pizza to a science lab on New Year's Eve in 1999 and is awoken 1,000 years later.
In the year 3000, Fry finds a job at a delivery service owned by his great (x30) nephew, the elderly Professor Farnsworth, and works alongside one-eyed mutant Leela, robot Bender, rich martian Amy, bureaucrat Hermes, lobster alien Dr. Zoidberg and Scruffy the janitor. They're frequently joined on their planet-hopping, alternate reality-exploring, time-traveling escapades by friend Kif, frenemy Zapp and nemeses Mom and Dr. Ogden Wernstrom.
Futurama first aired on TV in 1999 and was canceled by Fox in 2003 after four seasons. It came back in 2008 on Comedy Central with four movie-length features: Bender's Big Score, The Beast With a Billion Backs, Bender's Game and Into the Wild Green Yonder, which were each broadcast as four-part episodes.
Futurama was revived yet again in 2010, and then canceled one more time in 2013 after its seventh season -- though the characters returned in Simpsorama, an official crossover with The Simpsons, in 2014.
When and where to watch the Futurama reboot
Hulu is producing 20 new episodes of Futurama, set to stream in 2023. Disney will be at the helm this time, after acquiring 21st Century Fox in 2019. Original creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen will still be the executive producers for Futurama, so hopefully the show's vibe will remain the same.
As it's on Hulu rather than the family-friendly Disney Plus streaming service -- where Matt Groening's other show The Simpsons lives -- Futurama can maintain its more adult themes and language.
No word yet on what the plots will cover. Will there be some kind of pandemic in the year 3020? Will Fry and Leela have kids? Will Professors Farnsworth and Mom get back together? What is Amy doing with her doctorate? Will Hermes take up limboing again? Will there still be whalers on the moon? We'll update as we learn more about the Futurama reboot.
Read also: The Best TV Shows on Hulu
#Bendergate: Bender is back, baby!
John DiMaggio has finally ended #bendergate and agreed to return for the reboot as everyone's favorite cussing robot Bender, after originally holding off signing on to the new project over a pay dispute.
"I don't think that only I deserve to be paid more," DiMaggio tweeted prior to rejoining the cast. "I think the entire cast does. Negotiations are a natural part of working in show business."
He added, "Bender is part of my soul ... it's about self-respect. And honestly, being tired of an industry that's become far too corporate and takes advantage of artists' time & talent."
Two weeks later, he agreed to join the Futurama reboot, calling out the famous Bender quote, "BITE MY SHINY METAL ASS!"
I’M BACK, BABY!
— John DiMaggio (@TheJohnDiMaggio) March 1, 2022
The full returning Futurama cast
Billy West: Philip J. Fry, Professor Hubert Farnsworth, Dr. Zoidberg, Zapp Brannigan, Richard Nixon's Head, Leo Wong
John DiMaggio: Bender Bending Rodriguez, Robot Santa
Katey Sagal: Turanga Leela
Phil LaMarr: Hermes Conrad
Lauren Tom: Amy Wong, Inez Wong
Maurice LaMarche: Kif Kroker, Calculon, Morbo, Lrrr
Tress MacNeille: Mom, Linda van Schoonhoven, Ndnd, Turanga Munda
David Herman: Scruffy the janitor, Dr. Ogden Wernstrom, Roberto, Mayor Poopenmeyer, Turanga Morris
