'Futurama': John DiMaggio Officially Returning for Hulu Revival as Bender

By Daniel S. Levine

The next time Bender tells anyone to bite his shiny metal ass, the line will be delivered by John DiMaggio. After initially not signing on for Hulu's Futurama revival, the beloved voice actor announced on Tuesday that #Bendergate is over. He will be back to voice the foul-mouthed, cigar-chomping robot when Fry, Leela and the rest of the Planet Express team get back to work.

"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 in a statement to Variety. "#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!"

Futurama creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen also celebrated in their own statements. "From the moment John DiMaggio auditioned last century, we knew we had our Bender," Groening said. "So congrats to everyone at Futurama. We're all back, baby!"

"John DiMaggio may be a great robot, but he's also a great human being," Cohen added. "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!"

Back on Feb. 9, Hulu announced a Futurama revival with 20 new episodes premiering in 2023. Actors Billy West, Katey Sagal, Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche, Lauren Tom, Phil LaMarr and David Herman were all confirmed to be coming back. DiMaggio's name was nowhere to be found because, as it was later reported, he was in a salary dispute with producers. Ironically, although the return of Bender's voice wasn't set in stone yet, Hulu's tweet sharing the news featured the character.

DiMaggio's fans quickly got #Bendergate trending on Twitter, prompting the actor to explain his position on Feb. 15. He said the dispute was "about self-respect" because he believed he was not being offered what he was worth. "Bender is part of my soul & nothing bout this is meant to be disrespectful to the fans or my Futurama family," he wrote. "It's about self-respect. And honestly, being tired of an industry that's become far too corporate and takes advantage of artist's time & talent."

Futurama debuted on Fox in 1999 but was canceled after four seasons. Four made-for-TV movies were produced, and they were later edited into half-hour episodes to air on Comedy Central as Season 5. Comedy Central later ordered two more seasons. The show ended in 2013 with 140 episodes produced in total. Every episode is available to stream on Hulu.

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