Earlier this year, Disney announced that Matt Groening and David X. Cohen’s brilliantly subversive animated sci-fi comedy, “Futurama” would be returning for a brand new season in 2023.

“Futurama” focuses on the life of Philip Fry (Billy West), a 25-year-old pizza delivery boy who accidentally freezes himself on December 31, 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 alien and Bender, a robot who possesses human characteristics and flaws.

It was announced that the show’s returning voice cast includes stars Billy West, Katey Sagal, Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche, Lauren Tom, Phil LaMarr and David Herman.  However, John DiMaggio, who provides the voice of Bender, wasn’t part of the initial announcement, resulting in an online campaign called “Bendergate” to get John DiMaggio back as Bender.

The campaign worked, and it was revealed that John DiMaggio would also be returning.  Most recently, John DiMaggio spoke with Slashfilm at the Phoenix Fan Fusion, about returning to the show and how he didn’t get the pay rise, many people expected.

“People are like, ‘I’m so glad you got more money! I didn’t get more money. But what I did get was a lot of respect, and a lot of head nods from people who are like, ‘Yo bro, I see you and thank you’”,

He added that trying to get more money out of Disney was “like trying to get blood from a stone,” but said there was some satisfaction in the fight.

“I had Disney, Hulu, I was holding on to their collective testicles so hard that they couldn’t, y’know, there was nowhere for them to go. But there was also nowhere for me to go, and who wants to hold on to those for that long?”

During John’s performance at Phoenix Fan Fusion, it was revealed how Disney was going to deal with him being missing from the show, saying that they were “planning on using guest stars, [and] they were going to replace Bender’s voice each episode,” a revelation that led to groans from the audience.

Futurama is set to return on Hulu in the United States and on Disney+ internationally.  Previous seasons of the show are also available on Hulu in the US and on Disney+ internationally.

Are you looking forward to the return of “Futurama”?

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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