Bender voice actor John DiMaggio officially joins ‘Futurama’ revival on Hulu
Good news, everyone! Voice actor John DiMaggio is finally joining the Hulu revival of sci-fi animated comedy series, Futurama.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, DiMaggio has agreed to reprise his role as the foul-mouthed Bender after closing a deal for Hulu's revival of the Emmy Award-winning animated series.
“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. “#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!”
In a statement, series creator Matt Groening said that “from the moment John DiMaggio auditioned last century, we knew we had our Bender. So congrats to everyone at Futurama. We’re all back, baby!”
For his part, co-creator David X. Cohen said: “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!”
In February, Deadline reported that Hulu has ordered a 20-episode run of Groening and Cohen's sci-fi animated comedy with majority of the show’s voice cast set to reprise their roles such as Billy West, Katey Sagal, Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche, Lauren Tom, Phil LaMarr and David Herman.
However, Hulu said that DiMaggio might possibly not return for the series revival, prompting fans of the cult TV show to rally behind the voice actor, while others even threatened to boycott the show.
The decision to look for another voice actor was apparently made after DiMaggio’s “negotiations with Futurama studio 20th Television Animation came to a standstill, though there is a desire on both sides to have him rejoin the cast and reprise his role.”
Amid the #BenderGate issue, DiMaggio released a statement explaining the reason why he's not returning for the revival, saying that the original cast members who agreed to reprise their roles deserve to be paid more.
“I’ve been thinking about everything that’s been going on these past months and just to be clear, I don’t think that only I deserve to be paid more. I think the entire cast does,” DiMaggio wrote. “Negotiations are a natural part of working in show business. Everyone has a different strategy and different boundaries… Some accept offers, some hold their ground.”
He added: “Bender is part of my soul and nothing about this is meant to be disrespectful to the fans or my Futurama family. It’s about self-respect. And honestly, [it’s about] being tired of an industry that’s become far too corporate and takes advantage of artists’ time and talent… I wish I could give you every detail so you would understand, but it’s not my place. Thanks again for the love everyone. Still hoping for the best.”
First aired on Fox, Futurama follows the life of a 25-year-old pizza delivery guy named Philip J. Fry, who accidentally locks himself in a cryogenic machine on Dec. 31, 1999 and wakes up 1,000 years later in the 31st century.
From there, Fry meets his distant nephew Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth and decides to accept his offer to work at his interplanetary delivery company with the one-eyed sewer mutant Leela and robot Bender.
The critically acclaimed animated sci-fi show quickly gained a cult following around the world since it premiered in 1999 and won several awards including seven Annie awards and six Emmy awards.