Futurama Actor John DiMaggio Says He Didn't Get More Money After Contract Standoff

Veteran voice actor John DiMaggio says he didn't get a pay bump as part of his contract dispute over the Futurama revival series. DiMaggio was left out of the original cast announcement for the show, which is coming to Disney's Hulu service, and the actor said he and his castmates deserved more money. Ultimately, DiMaggio and Disney/Hulu agreed to terms and DiMaggio will be back as Bender.

Speaking at the Phoenix Fan Fusion event recently, attended by SlashFilm, DiMaggio said, "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.'"

DiMaggio said Hulu was prepared to move ahead without DiMaggio, with someone else stepping in to voice Bender. But that didn't happen and it won't, because DiMaggio is coming back.

Again, the actor claimed he didn't get more money in his contract standoff, and he spoke frankly about what it was like negotiating with Disney. "Trying to get money out of Disney is like trying to get blood from a stone--you ain't gonna get it!" he said.

DiMaggio said he and his agent had a conversation about whether "we want to be in the house having a nice Thanksgiving dinner, or ... standing across the street in the freezing rain watching everybody eat stuffing." DiMaggio went with the stuffing.

"But listen, this was the best thing about that 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?" he said.

In addition to DiMaggio, the rest of the main cast are confirmed to be returning, including Billy West as Fry, Katey Sagal as Leela, Lauren Tom as Amy, and Phil LaMarr as Hermes. Series creator Matt Groening and writer David X. Cohen are returning as well.

Futurama will return in 20 new episodes coming to Hulu sometime in 2023.