The Futurama You Know and Love

Futurama returns for its 12th season July 29—a proven fact that only a few years felt like an impossibility. Thanks to Hulu, the oft-canceled and oft-revived sequence dropped its first new episodes in 10 years in 2023, and there are more to come even after this newest batch of 10. Its persevering with existence is assured for now, so there’s just one query left to ask: is it nonetheless value tuning in?

io9 watched the primary six episodes for this (spoiler-free!) evaluation, and the brief reply is “sure.” There’s no new floor being damaged right here; taken as a complete, the episodes signify precisely what followers count on from Futurama, which is thirty first century shenanigans galore revolving across the misfits of Planet Specific. 

Additionally current as standard are intelligent plots that mirror on twenty first century tradition, which this time round consists of NFTs—an idea nonetheless so complicated within the far future that solely the child characters totally perceive it—in addition to the perils of chatbots, toxic-positivity co-workers, and quick trend. There are additionally extra timeless themes, together with childhood trauma (cleverly seen by a lens that borrows closely from Squid Recreation), animal rights, the seek for household roots, and the difficulties in constructing friendships as an grownup.

And, after all, there’s all of the stuff that basically makes Futurama, Futurama: the hilariously bizarre asides, the pun-laden product names, the momentary gross-outs, and the lightning-fast oddball references that make you wish to rewind to double-check your individual eyes. 

Together with that goes the implausible solid, particularly John DiMaggio as Bender, who finds methods to make even his character’s well-worn catchphrases sound humorous each time, but additionally Billy West (who performs Fry, Professor Farnsworth, Zapp Brannigan, and Zoidberg), Katey Sagal (Leela), Phil LaMarr (Hermes), Lauren Tom (Amy), and the flexibly voiced Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche, and David Herman as varied different characters. There are, as all the time, visitor stars in season 12, however we gained’t spoil their reveals right here.

Season 12 of Futurama, created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen, debuts July 29 on Hulu; it’s a weekly episode drop, so that you’ll have to attend till the top of September  if you wish to binge it abruptly.

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