Futurama Season 12 returns on July 29th, a fact that would have seemed impossible just a few years ago. Thanks to Hulu, the series that has been canceled and revived countless times released new episodes for the first time in 10 years in 2023, with even more new episodes scheduled to be released after these latest 10 episodes. With its survival assured for now, only one question remains: is it still worth watching?
io9 watched the first six episodes for this review (no spoilers!), and the answer is yes: nothing new is happening here. Overall, the episodes are exactly what fans expect. Futuramais packed with 31st century mayhem surrounding the misfits of Planet Express.
And as always, there’s a clever plot that reflects 21st century culture, this time involving NFTs (still such a confusing concept in the far future that only the child characters fully understand it), the dangers of chatbots, coworkers with toxic positivity, fast fashion, and childhood trauma ( Squid Game), animal rights, searching for family roots, and the challenges of building friendships as an adult.
And of course, really Futurama, Futurama: Fun and bizarre asides, pun-filled product names, fleeting grotesque moments, and lightning-quick quirky references that will have you rewinding and seeing for yourself.
Plus, the cast is great, especially John DiMaggio as Bender, who finds a way to make even his character’s worn-out catchphrases sound funny every time. Also great are Billy West (as The Fly, Professor Farnsworth, Zapp Brannigan, and Zoidberg), Katey Sagal (as Leela), Phil LaMarr (as Hermes), and Lauren Tom (as Amy), with Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche, and David Herman playing various characters. Season 12 has the usual guest stars, which we won’t spoil here.
Season 12 Futuramacreated by Developed by Matt Groening and David X. Cohen It will premiere on Hulu on July 29th. Episodes will be released weekly, so if you want to binge watch the whole thing, you’ll have to wait until the end of September.
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