John DiMaggio (Adventure Time with Finn and Jake) announced on Tuesday that he will be rejoining the cast of Futurama for Hulu’s revival of the popular animated comedy, according to The Hollywood Reporter. When Hulu initially announced that they would be reviving the show on February 9th, DiMaggio was not listed among the returning cast.
DiMaggio released a statement via THR expressing his excitement to be reprising his role as Bender for the revival.
“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 stated. “#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!”
On February 15th, six days after Hulu announced Futurama’s revival, DiMaggio posted a note stating why he was not among the returning cast members.
According to THR, DiMaggio will now rejoin Billy West (The Ren & Stimpy Show), Katey Sagal (Married… With Children), Tress MacNeille (Disenchantment), Maurice LaMarche (Rick and Morty), Lauren Tom (Bad Santa), Phil LaMarr (Pulp Fiction) and David Herman (Office Space) in the revival, which Hulu announced would release in 2023, bringing the full regular cast back together.
The show’s creators, Matt Groening (The Simpsons) and David X. Cohen (Beavis And Butthead), also released statements via THR on the return of DiMaggio.
“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. Not many people or machines can say that,” Cohen said. “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.”
Futurama first aired on Fox in 1999, then was canceled but revived through a series of DVD movies. The show was then picked up by Comedy Central in 2010, before being canceled again in 2013. The series is currently streaming on Hulu.