John DiMaggio confirms return to 'Futurama' reboot in u-turn, completing original cast

John DiMaggio has confirmed that he will return for the reboot of Futurama, completing the final piece in the jigsaw puzzle of the original cast.

DiMaggio, who voices robot character Bender, is the last original cast member to sign up to the reboot of the animated series which was announced last month to be getting new episodes at Disney+.

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The casting marks a u-turn for the actor, who last month said he would not be coming back in a disagreement over pay, stating "it's about self-respect".

In a statement that acknowledged the controversy, DiMaggio said: "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.

"#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 c**p 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.

"I’M BACK, BABY! BITE MY SHINY METAL ASS!"

Creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen also shared how happy they were to see the cast completed.

Groening said: "From the moment John DiMaggio auditioned last century, we knew we had our Bender. So congrats to everyone at Futurama. We’re all back, baby!"

Cohen added: "John DiMaggio may be a great robot, but he's also a great human being. Not many people or machines can say that.

"For the fourth time, it's a once-in-a-lifetime thrill to be back with our entire original cast and the phenomenal animators of Rough Draft Studios!"

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Futurama, an animated comedy about a pizza delivery boy who accidentally freezes himself on New Year's Eve 1999 and then wakes up 1,000 years later with a group of futuristic alien and robot friends, originally ran from 1999 to 2003.

It came back in 2007 with four straight-to-DVD movies that were later aired as TV episodes, and made a third return to TV from 2010 to 2013.

DiMaggio joins the already confirmed voice cast of Billy West, Katey Sagal, Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche, Lauren Tom, Phil LaMarr and David Herman.

The new series has gone into production and is set to stream on Disney+ in 2023.

Watch: See the Futurama season one teaser trailer