Once thought to be gone forever, Comedy Central has breathed life back into the mouth of the fan favorite Futurama, making fanboys and fangirls across the globe smile once again. Now things are continuing with better news, as the famed sixth season is coming to fans on Blu-ray and DVD.

As the second release on Blu-ray, this season is slated to bring fans even more fun features and extras. Here’s a sample:

Special Features (Blu-ray and DVD):

• Deleted Scenes
• Audio Commentary
• Professor Farnsworth’s “Science of a Scene”
• Reincarnation Explained! With Director Peter Avanzino
• Futurama F.A.Q. (Frequently Axed Questions)
• Christopher’s Big Score: The Music of Futurama
• Futurama Fans: 101 Questions

The set will be out on both Blu-ray and DVD just in time to fill your stocking on December 20th. Take a look at the full, beautiful box art after the jump and let’s hope we can make it more than 4 seasons this time!

Continue Reading →

All good things must come to an end, that means some of our favorite shows from this summer must as well. The good news (everyone), is that in the case of Comedy Central’s Futurama, that means it’s time for an all-out special episode in which anything could and probably will happen.

In Thursday night’s season finale, the Planet Express crew goes through a bit of a change, as the show gets told in 3 different animation styles, for the first time ever. Those three styles are “Classic Black and White”, “Old School Videogame,” and “Japanese Anime.”

So there’s a little bit of something for everybody, which is why we love Futurama in the first place. It’s unknown whether this episode will fall under their typical “alternate universe” episodes, but all we know is how awesome it will be to see our favorite delivery crew in different styles.

Check out the preview after the jump and catch the season finale of Futurama Thursday night at 10pm/9pm Central on Comedy Central.

Continue Reading →

All week long, we’ve been bringing you coverage and interviews with the people who brought us DC’s newest animated film, Batman: Under the Red Hood. We spoke with star Bruce Greenwood, who talked about working with the talented John DiMaggio, who fans know best as the voice of Futurama’s Bender.

John has lent his voice to other DC properties, such as Batman: Brave and Bold and Superman: Doomsday, but now he’s taking on one of the biggest roles in DC’s rogues gallery: the Joker.

John brings a quiet insanity to the character, similar to what Ledger brought to the role, but differing from Mark Hammil’s vaudevillian approach to the character. And being the killer of a teenage boy, he needs all the insanity he can bring.

Check out our interview with DiMaggio after the jump, as he discusses his doubts in his performance, as well as his dedication to the fans for resurrecting Futurama. Batman: Under the Red Hood is currently in stores.

Continue Reading →

With the resurgence in popularity for comics over the decades, there have been plenty of incarnations of our favorite heroes. In that time, we’ve had two Hulks, three Clark Kents, and nearly a dozen Batman’s. The likes of Christian Bale, Jeremy Sisto, Diederich Bader, and the always talented Kevin Conroy have played the Dark Knight in the 5 few years, and now it’s time for Bruce Greenwood to step in.

This time, Batman faces his greatest foes, one of his former sidekicks. Taken straight from a story arc by Judd Winick about the resurrection of Jason Todd, this story has to be one of the darkest DC animated films to date.

You may know Greenwood best as playing Captain Pike in J.J. Abram’s Star Trek. He joins a star-studded cast including Futurama’s John DiMaggio, Neil Patrick Harris, and even Supernatural’s Jensen Ackles.

We got the chance to discuss playing the World’s Greatest Detective with Bruce Greenwood, as well as his interesting relationship with his on-screen nemesis. Check out the interview after the jump, and pick up Batman: Under The Red Hood in stores today.

Continue Reading →

This week may mark the time when fanboys and fangirls recover from last week’s Comic-Con, but it also marks a pretty big week for fans of DC Studios, and more specifically, their animated DVD division. On Tuesday, the studio released their next film in the continuing direct-to-DVD film series in an adaptation of Judd Winick’s Batman: Under The Red Hood.

Much like many of the other DC animated films, this story follows very close to the source material, with a few tweaks to allow a 70 minute film to flow nicely. That also means that this is one of the darkest films that the studio has done to date, with plenty of death and violence. The film is definitely a must for any fan of the franchise or comics in general.

We got a chance to speak with DC Animation guru and producer of the film Bruce Timm about this and a few upcoming projects including All-Star Superman, Batman: Year One, and Green Lantern: Emerald Knights. Also, we spoke with voice director Andrea Romano about casting Bruce Greenwood as this film’s Batman and Futurama’s John DiMaggio as The Joker.

Check out the full interview after the jump, and keep it here all week for more interviews with the cast of Batman: Under The Red Hood.

Continue Reading →

With Comic-Con only days away, one of the bigger events during the show will be the world premiere of the DC Universe’s next animated film: Batman: Under The Red Hood. This film will be taking a far more serious approach to the source material and includes the death and trauma of a former Boy Wonder.

We’ll be bringing you plenty of coverage of the film straight from the show next week and we’ve had a few clips for you already to whet your appetite. The first was a few weeks ago when Batman finally confronts his titular enemy. Now the Red Hood is back in a new clip as he confronts Gotham’s top mob bosses.

The movie features an all-star cast with Bruce Greenwood stepping in as the Dark Knight, Jensen Ackles (Supernatural) as The Red Hood, Neil Patrick Harris as Dick Grayson, and John DiMaggio as The Joker. Check out the new clip after the jump. Catch Batman: Under The Red Hood on DVD and Blu-Ray on July 27th.

Continue Reading →

DC’s animated film department has only gotten bigger and better since they took off back in 2007 with Superman: Doomsday. Each film since has done an impressive job by either retelling a classic story, or staying true to an original one shot, such as Justice League: New Frontier. Their newest venture does a little of both.

Batman: Under the Red Hood comes straight from scribe Judd Winick’s “Under the Hood” storyline from 2005. The book not only touches on the murder of Jason Todd, but the origin of The Joker, and some amazing growth of characters that we’ve loved for decades.

Much like all of the other DC animated titles, this film pulls no punches with it’s voice cast. Bruce Greenwood steps in as Batman this time, while Neil Patrick Harris plays Dick Grayson/Nightwing, Futurama’s John DiMaggio plays The Joker, Supernatural’s Jensen Ackles plays Jason Todd/Red Hood, and even Lucious Malfoy (Jason Isaacs) from the Harry Potter films gets a part as Ra’s al Ghul.

The movie looks to be quite impressive and with Winick penning the script, we expect it won’t disappoint. Check out an exclusive new clip from the movie after the jump and be sure to catch Batman: Under the Red Hood on DVD and Blu-ray July 27th.

Continue Reading →

Good news, everyone! Yes…I have to start off every Futurama story with that exclamation. Why? Because we’re only hours away from season premiere of Futurama on Comedy Central. It’s been a tough battle since the days of Fox, but the show creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen fought hard, made a few DVD movies, and are now back on the air with a full season.

There are plenty of questions that we fans expect to get answered in upcoming episodes, like what happened to the Fry and Leela love story, or Bender’s foree in the League of Robots. Luckily, Comedy Central has put together a special Q&A with Cohen and Groening to answer a few of these questions before the one-hour premiere.

Take a look at the interview after the jump, as the two discuss topics like Fry’s middle name, and what ever happened to Kiff and Amy’s babies. Be sure to catch the hour-long season premiere of Futurama on Comedy Central this Thursday at 10pm/9pm Central.

Continue Reading →

Good news, everyone. Futurama is returning to TV! But you already knew that, didn’t you? For those who didn’t, the epic sci-fi animated series received a stay of execution from the benevolent Comedy Central, who originally obtained the rights to syndicate the show and air all of the direct-to-DVD movies.

The new series picks up on June 24th, but we’ve got a brand new look at the first episode today. There was a bit of panic for a while on whether or not Comedy Central was willing to pay the original voice cast to return to the show, but that was almost immediately quashed, and they’ll all be returning.

The franchise had moderate success after it’s series of DVD movies, all of which were syndicated on Comedy Central. Much like Family Guy, it seems that the fans just won’t let this show go down. Check out the brand new clip after the jump, and you’ll see that, just like they’ve done in the past, even this scene has a few tongue-in-cheek lines on where they’ve been, and how they are back on the air.

Check out the clip after the jump, and join Bender, Leela, Fry, and the whole gang as they return on Thursday, June 24th, at 10/9C.

Continue Reading →

Warner Home Video has issued its first press release in connection with the upcoming straight-to-video release of ‘Batman: Under the Red Hood.’ Available for pre-order now, but due to release on DVD and Blu-Ray July 27, 2010, the story deals with the return of Jason Todd, the second Robin who was brutally beaten to death by the Joker.

In the film, Batman faces his ultimate challenge as the mysterious Red Hood takes Gotham City by firestorm. One part vigilante, one part criminal kingpin, Red Hood begins cleaning up Gotham with the efficiency of Batman, but without following the same ethical code. And when The Joker falls in the balance between the two forces of justice, hard truths are revealed and old wounds are reopened.

Within the press release, there is some great Q&A with John DiMaggio, who was announced would be portraying  the Joker, and how his approach to giving voice to this iconic villain differs from previous efforts. Best known for his previous work as ‘Bender’ in the long-running ‘Futurama’ franchise, DiMaggio has an extensive voice-over career spanning the past decade.

With credits like Kim Possible, Samurai Jack, Teen Titans, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Duck Dodgers, Jackie Chan Adventures, The Penguins of Madagascar and Chowder, DiMaggio now sets his sights on the much darker role of the Joker in this all-new DC special.

Speaking specifically to his motivation and inspiration in this new role, DiMaggio’s comments give us a sneak peek at this new twist on the Joker, while paying homage to the iconic bad guy’s long and storied past. Check out some quotes straight from the man himself after the jump.

Continue Reading →

We were all pretty relieved and excited last June when news first hit that Futurama would be returning–with the original cast–in all new episodes exclusively on Comedy Central this summer. We had almost forgotten about how excited we got, until a new teaser trailer got released over the weekend. Now we’re back, and hungry for more!

The comedy network has been airing the show in syndication ever since they got the rights from Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. The deal also encompassed the rights to break up and air each of the direct-to-DVD Futurama films, as well as the now forthcoming sixth season.

The newest season is set to have all of our original voices back in action this June, and if you want a bit of a peak at what the first episode back, entitled “Rebirth”, has to offer, take a look here.

Until we get the full episode, however, we’ll just have this teaser to keep us warm at night with the thoughts of Fry and the gang. Check it out after the jump, and keep it here for any more info we can bring you on Futurama.

Continue Reading →

Futurama fans of the world have five reasons to celebrate. Variety is reporting that the show’s original stars — John DiMaggio, Billy West, Katey Sagal, Maurice LaMarche and Tress MacNeille – reached an agreement with 20th Century Fox TV late Friday to return to the show. This compromise comes on the heels of 20th putting out a casting call in July to find replacement voice actors for the show.

“We are thrilled to have our incredible cast back,” creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen said in a statement. “The call has already gone out to the animators to put the mouths back on the characters.”

The studio announced in June that it would revive the long-canceled Futurama, and Comedy Central was on board to begin airing the new episodes in mid-2010. Part of the announcement included stars West, Sagal and DiMaggio returning to the series; however the actors had not finalized a deal and salary discussions soon escalated.

It’s believed that the Futurama cast initially asked for around $75,000 per episode (a number disputed by at least one actor), but that number was reportedly brought down to $40,000. The final number wound up below that, but above what 20th was offering.

Despite 20th’s move to start recasting Futurama, it was widely assumed that both sides would eventually figure out a way to stay in business together. In what many considered a positive sign, some of the Futurama cast attended the recent San Diego Comic-Con, although they were not a part of the show’s official panel discussion.

New Futurama episodes will begin airing on Comedy Central in 2010.