John DiMaggio -- the voice of the foul-mouthed, alcoholic robot Bender from Futurama -- returned to the role without a pay raise, despite his initial wage dispute with Hulu and Disney.
As reported by /Film, DiMaggio revealed during an appearance at Phoenix Fan Fusion that he did not receive a pay increase upon returning to the Futurama reboot. "People are like, 'I'm so glad you got more money!'" DiMaggio said. "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.'" DiMaggio said that Hulu was ready to move on with Futurama's revival without him and was "planning on using guest stars [who would] replace Bender's voice each episode."
DiMaggio said the support he got from his colleagues during the dispute was "quite rewarding," but added that "trying to get money out of Disney is like trying to get blood from a stone." He declared that the decision to return to Futurama came down to "having a nice Thanksgiving dinner" versus "standing across the street in the freezing rain watching everybody eat." DiMaggio went on to say that the "best thing" about his fight with Disney and Hulu was "holding on to their collective testicles so hard that... 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?"
The initial dispute, which DiMaggio deemed "#BenderGate," began shortly after the Futurama reboot's announcement in February. DiMaggio believed that the entire cast deserved higher pay for their returns and stated that he was "tired of an industry that's become far too corporate and takes advantage of the artist's time & talent."
For a while, it was possible that DiMaggio would not return to the Hulu revival at all, which caused significant upset with Futurama fans. However, after negotiations with Disney and Hulu, DiMaggio announced in March that he would join his Futurama castmates for the revival as the voice of Bender. "I'M BACK, BABY!" he tweeted at the time. "BITE MY SHINY METAL ASS!"
DiMaggio was the last main character to rejoin the series, with actors such as Billy West (Philip Fry) and Katey Sagal (Leela) having already signed on. Futurama's original creator and showrunner -- Matt Groening and David X. Cohen -- are also set to return for the 20 new episodes ordered by Hulu.
Futurama is currently streaming on Hulu. The new season will premiere sometime in 2023.
Source: /Film