John DiMaggio is all set to return to voice Bender in Hulu’s revival of Futurama. Officially, it was confirmed that all key cast members will reprise their roles in sci-fi cartoon. Earlier last month the makers announced the return of show with Billy West (Fry), Katey Sagal (Leela), Tress MacNeille (Mom, many others), Maurice LaMarche (Kif), Lauren Tom (Amy), Phil LaMarr (Hermes), and David Herman (Scruffy) all set to come back in their original roles.
Earlier Deadline reported that DiMaggio’s role was in the process of being recast. The actor had turned down the offers, because he felt that it was not competitive based on the success and name recognition of the original series.
DiMaggio took to twitter and wrote, “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.”
The news comes three weeks after the announcement that Futurama would possibly return without DiMaggio mobilized fans who took to social media to throw their support behind him, using #bendergate.
Futurama features the life of Philip Fry (Billy West), a 25-year-old pizza delivery boy who accidentally freezes himself on 31 December 1999 and wakes up 1,000 years later with a fresh start at life and a “diverse” new group of friends including Leela (Katey Sagal), a tough but lovely one-eyed ship captain, and Bender (DiMaggio), a robot who possesses human characteristics and flaws.
Futurama is originally aired on Fox was canceled after four seasons, but was later revived in the form of four direct-to-DVD movies that were also broadcast on Comedy Central. The network then ordered new seasons of the series which again aired in 2010, before cancellation in 2013.
The new 20-episode run, is scheduled to arrive on Hulu in 2023, is the third time the sci-fi series has been revived.