Bender’s Back, Baby! – Did You Hear? Week of March 4th, 2022

Did You Hear? is a weekly examination of headlines in the entertainment industry and a take on what they could mean for the future of the industry and (often), the little geeky bubble that we occupy!

Bender’s Back, Baby!

Futurama is the unkillable animated series and it’s back, back, back, back, back again! We were so excited about it we wrote about it but John DiMaggio hadn’t signed on to return to the voice of Bender until …

John DiMaggio on Twitter: “I’M BACK, BABY! / Twitter”

I’M BACK, BABY!

As of March 1st everyone’s favourite bending robot is back!

Even series creator Matt Groening:

From the moment auditioned last century, we knew we had our Bender. So congrats to everyone at ‘Futurama.’ We’re all back, baby!

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!

… executive producer David X. Cohen added.

Fans across the world are cheering. Does DiMaggio’s inclusion in the cast make you more likely to check out Futurama in its newest incarnation than before? We’re curious, so hop down to the comments section and let us know.

Kraven the Hunter Adds More Castmembers 

Per Deadline Sony’s upcoming Kraven the Hunter movie added White Lotus star Fred Hechinger in the role of Chameleon alongside Aaron Taylor Johnson as Kraven, himself.

In addition to Hechinger, current Academy Award Nominee and brand new SAG Award winner, Ariana DeBose will also be joining Kraven the Hunter in the playing Calypso. Comic book readers will recognize Calypso as Kraven’s on-again-off-again girlfriend with unique magical powers based in voodoo.

DeBose also follows Dakota Johnson in joining the Sony Spider-Verse who was recently announced to be taking on the role of Madame Web. In fact, we wrote about Johnson’s casting in a Did You Hear? back in February of this. By comparison to the Marvel Studios model which took years to put their female superhero characters front and center.

Hob Gadling Cast in Sandman

Neil Gaiman recently confirmed on his Twitter account that actor Ferdinand Kinglsey has joined the cast of the upcoming Sandman series in the role of Hob Gadling:

Neil Gaiman on Twitter: “And he’s marvellous! https://t.co/O6RCzmpt69 / Twitter”

And he’s marvellous! https://t.co/O6RCzmpt69

Kingsley is known for his work in historical dramas such as Borgia and Victoria and fans of the Sandman comics will immediately understand why this is important. Hob Gadling lives firmly in the 14th Century, so having a performer who can handle this tone. 

Sandman is currently slated for release in 2022 with no specific release date yet announced from Netflix

Halo Renewed for Season 2 by Paramount+

Ahead of the March 24th, 2022 release date Paramount+ has announced their Halo streaming show has been renewed for a second season, reports Variety. 

‘Halo’ is an expansive, world-building opportunity for Paramount Plus, and we’re thrilled to give fans a second season to look forward to before we launch the series next month.

said Paramount Plus Chief Programming Officer Tanya Giles.

A two year green light for a streaming service is pretty much par for the course now. Genre shows with a lot of effects and heavy costumes or set builds. This allows studios to spread the initial output budget for pilot out across two seasons worth of content.

Halo has been in screen development since 2005, originally for the big screen and now finding its home on streaming.