Bender actor retweeting fans angry he isn’t returning for Futurama revival
By Dan Selcke
Just the other day, we learned that Hulu was bringing back Futurama — the beloved sci-fi cartoon created by Matt Groening and David X. Cohen — for another 20 episodes on the streaming platform.
Mostly that’s cause for celebration, since the show is still beloved by a lot of people to this day. On the other hand, the show has been brought back a lot already. Its original run on Fox ended way back in 2003, it was revived for a series of movies in 2008, and then had another two seasons on Comedy Central in 2010. I like Bender Bending Rodriguez as much as the next nerd, but has the series played itself out?
Not according to Hulu. And per Deadline, most of the main cast is reuniting for the revival, including Billy West, Katey Sagal, Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche, Lauren Tom, Phil LaMarr and David Herman.
Futurama star John DiMaggio is not happy that Hulu is willing to replace him
But “most” is not “all.” Notably absent from this list is John DiMaggio, who played the foul-mouthed robot Bender. Apparently Hulu was unable to reach a deal with him and is prepared to recast the role. Fans are not happy, and while DiMaggio hasn’t made a statement, he is retweeting a lot of their objections.
Additional VO tip, in light of news today: don’t make attempts to slide in on someone else’s spot. That’s a wild greasy maneuver. Respect their position, talent & integrity.
— Andrew Kishino (@big_kish) February 10, 2022
I feel like the idea of @TheJohnDiMaggio as a replaceable element of Futurama is part of a wider issue of an industry that doesn’t respect voice actors on the same level as live action actors. You’ll see voice actors who MADE a character treated like no live action actor would be
— Kelly Turnbull (@Coelasquid) February 10, 2022
And so on.
It does seem stupid to make more Futurama without DiMaggio; you know he’s willing to do it, seeing as he’s working with Groening on the animator’s Netflix show Disenchantment even as we speak. If Hulu really wants to revive this show yet again, it might as well do it right.
There’s no release date for the Futurama revival as of yet, but the table read is scheduled to happen as early as this upcoming Monday.
Next. How The Rings of Power is changing The Lord of the Rings mythology. dark
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h/t The A.V. Club