Bender fans can now rejoice as John DiMaggio, who voices the fan-favorite character along with other characters from the long-running animated series, has officially joined Hulu’s revival of Futurama, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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When it was first announced that the streamer was developing new episodes of the Emmy winning series, a deal had not yet been closed to bring back DiMaggio as one of the series regulars, upsetting Futurama fans and the voice actor as well:
Update: #bendergate pic.twitter.com/tBG7d9hQ3R
— John DiMaggio (@TheJohnDiMaggio) February 16, 2022
Now that the deal is done, DiMaggio will join series regulars Billy West, Katey Sagal, Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche, Lauren Tom, Phil LaMarr, and David Hermann. The voice of Bender issued a statement along with the news:
“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!”
“From the moment John DiMaggio auditioned last century, we knew we had our Bender,” added co-creator Matt Groening. “So congrats to everyone at Futurama. We’re all back, baby!”
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.”
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The Futurama revival has been picked up for 20 new episodes which will air in 2023 with production expected to begin soon. The original seasons of the series are available to stream now on Hulu. The show is produced by 20th Television and executive produced by Groening and Cohen. Rough Draft Studios handles animation.
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