John DiMaggio, who was supposed to return to voice Bender in Hulu’s revival of Futurama, had asked for a raise. Recently, he revealed that he is playing the role but there has been no pay hike. Also, had the dispute continued, DiMaggio would have been replaced by guest actors.
As per a report in Comicbook, during the Phoenix Fan Fusion event DiMaggio told his fans that his negotiations were not successful and he did not get a higher pay for his return.
“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’,” said DiMaggio (via /Film).
According to the actor, the streaming platform would have replaced him with an ensemble of guest actors in the role, with Bender’s voice changing episode after episode.
Officially, it was confirmed that all key cast members will reprise their roles in the sci-fi cartoon. In February 2022, the makers announced the return of show with Billy West (Fry), Katey Sagal (Leela), Tress MacNeille (Mom, many others), Maurice LaMarche (Kif), Lauren Tom (Amy), Phil LaMarr (Hermes), and David Herman (Scruffy) all set to come back in their original roles.
Reports stated, DiMaggio’s was in the process of being recast. The actor had turned down the offers, because he felt that it was not competitive based on the success and name recognition of the original series.
DiMaggio took to twitter and wrote, “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. “#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.”
Futurama features the life of Philip Fry (Billy West), a 25-year-old pizza delivery boy who accidentally freezes himself on 31 December 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 ship captain, and Bender (DiMaggio), a robot who possesses human characteristics and flaws.
Futurama, originally aired on Fox was canceled after four seasons, but was later revived in the form of four direct-to-DVD movies that were also broadcast on Comedy Central. The network then ordered new seasons of the series which again aired in 2010, before cancellation in 2013.
The new 20-episode run, scheduled to arrive on Hulu in 2023, is the third time the sci-fi series has been revived.