Bender Voice Actor Reacts To Fans’ Threatened Boycott Of New ‘Futurama’
Hulu is officially reviving David X. Cohen and Matt Groening’s adult comedy series Futurama, but fans of the sci-fi show aren’t celebrating just yet. John DiMaggio, who voiced Bender as well as several smaller roles, is potentially being recast, and Futurama devotees are upset. On Thursday, DiMaggio took to social media to champion the fans who are speaking up about his absence.
It doesn’t help that original Futurama voice actors Billy West, Katey Sagal, Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche, Lauren Tom, Phil LaMarr and David Herman are all currently attached to the project. According to Variety, the producers of the reboot are hopeful that DiMaggio will return — it’s just that his contract hadn't been ironed out by the time of the big announcement. If the producers are unable to strike a deal with DiMaggio’s team, the role will be recast.
Fans aren’t onboard with any possibility of recasting, however, and several have posted online that they will boycott the show if there is a new voice in the role of Bender, who one fan described on Twitter as “the face of the show.”
In response to the strong reactions online, DiMaggio shared his own post on Twitter along with Bender's famous catchphrase:
As of now, it’s unsure what the result of this situation would be. It all boils down to contract specifics at the end of the day, but perhaps the uproar from fans will push the producers and DiMaggio’s team to reach a deal faster. If the past few years have taught us anything, it’s to never underestimate fans’ influence when it comes to a popular franchise — it made all the difference in the case of Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
Either way, we can expect 20 new episodes of Futurama to arrive on Hulu in the future. Whether or not DiMaggio will voice Bender remains to be seen.