John DiMaggio will return as Bender in Hulu’s Futurama reboot

Futurama, the sci-fi comedy that started on Fox way back in 1999, has been cancelled three times over the course of its long life, and has three times been brought back from the grave. It’s basically the show’s trademark at this point. The latest revival comes courtesy of Hulu, which initially signed on cast members Billy West, Katey Sagal, Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche, Lauren Tom, Phil LaMarr and David Herman.

But there was a big name missing: John DiMaggio, who voiced the foul-mouthed robot Bender, who is — let’s be honest — the most iconic character from the series. He was holding out for a better deal. “I don’t think only I deserve to be paid more. I think the entire cast does,” DiMaggio said at the time. “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.”

It was touch and go there for a minute, but according to Variety, Hulu and DiMaggio have since worked things out and gotten the actor back on board. DiMaggio celebrated with a statement:

"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. #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!"

Series creator Matt Groening, who’s also the guy behind The Simpsons, made his own statement: “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!”

John DiMaggio is back as Bender for Futurama reboot

We don’t know exactly what deal DiMaggio and Hulu reached. Did Hulu just give DiMaggio more money? Did they give the entire cast more money, which is something DiMaggio said he was concerned about when the controversy was in full swing? We’ll probably never know, but I sure am curious.

Anyway, now that the reboot is officially a go, we stop debating how Hulu could even contemplate doing Futurama without DiMaggio and start talking about whether the show needs to be revived at all. The discourse never stops.

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