Mind-Blowing Twists Unveiled: What's in Store for Futurama Season 12

Summary

Futurama season 12 is already in the works with 10 big episode ideas, showing the series' optimism for the future in the streaming TV landscape.

The beloved cartoon revolutionized comedy cartoons by introducing ongoing story arcs and has created a wealth of opportunities for future storylines and concepts.

Future episodes could involve delving into the story of Fry and Leela's child, who travels back in time, further developing the characters and lives of Amy and Kif's offspring, and even dedicating a full episode to the dynamic duo of Zapp and Kif.

Futurama season 12 is nearing its completion on Hulu, with 10 exciting episode ideas already in place. Another batch of 10 episodes is currently in development for a 2024 release, and there are hopes for the show's continued success in the years to come. The streaming TV platform has proven to be the perfect home for Futurama, signaling a bright future for the series. With numerous concepts, deliberate hints, and noticeable exclusions within the show, there is a wealth of ideas and potential storylines for the series to explore moving forward.

In today's era of heavily serialized shows, Matt Groening's animated comedy was a trailblazer in crafting a cohesive world with ongoing story arcs. Similar to The X-Files, Futurama subtly intertwined its lore episodes with the usual standalone monster-of-the-week format. As a result, the show has accumulated a wealth of possibilities that audiences are eager to witness in the future. These 10 significant episode concepts have all been established, either directly or indirectly, for the upcoming season and beyond.

9 Fry And Leela's Backward-Time-Traveling Child

On the commentary for season 6, episode 16, "Law and Oracle," showrunner, David X. Cohen, discusses the original concept for a time-traveling character in real-time. This character was initially intended to be Fry and Leela's future child, sent back for important reasons. Despite its intriguing premise, the writers ultimately found the idea too complex to execute and ultimately abandoned it. Cohen later addressed this during a Reddit AMA.

8 Amy And Kif's Children

With the audience now acquainted with Amy and Kif's children - Newt, Mandy, and Axl - it's time to delve into their individual storylines. The upcoming season of the show has already announced its titles, sparking speculation about potential narratives involving Newt or Mandy's interactions with Amy's pet, Betsy. Futurama fans will remember Betsy as the beloved buggalo from season 3, episode 10, "Where the Buggalo Roam." Another intriguing possibility is "The Temp," which some suggest could focus on Axl taking on a temporary job at Planet Express. Just like Dwight and Cubert had their own tales, episodes centered around Amy and Kif's offspring are bound to happen.

7 The Zapp And Kif Show

When asked about the possibility of a Futurama spinoff series, David X. Cohen disclosed that himself and certain other writers had long desired to create an entire episode of Futurama centered solely on The Zapp and Kif Show. In this episode, the Planet Express crew would either make brief appearances or not show up at all, with the entire storyline focusing on the misadventures of Zapp and Kif aboard the Nimbus. Although elements of this idea were incorporated into Zapp's dream sequences in "In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela," the potential for a complete Zapp and Kif episode remains abundant.

6 Anthology Of Interest III

Two remarkable episodes of Futurama during its original run were season 2, episode 16, "Anthology of Interest I," and season 3, episode 18, "Anthology of Interest II." In these episodes, the crew is seen posing questions to the Professor's What If Machine and then watching the resultant simulations. Although "Anthology of Interest III" was expected to follow in the show's Comedy Central revival after the Fox season finale, it took an intriguing turn. Surprisingly, the revival fully embraced the non-canonical anthology format in entirely fresh ways, presenting a completely original anthology format in every subsequent season broadcast. A notable example of this is season 6, episode 26, "Reincarnation," which presents a reimagination of Futurama through an assortment of diverse animation styles.

5 The Return Of The Brain Spawn

When Matt Groening and David X. Cohen initially conceptualized the series, they envisioned the ongoing conflict between the Brain Spawn and the Nibblonians as a grand narrative that would unfold throughout the show's duration. However, sensing that cancellation was imminent, they made the decision to condense their plans. As a result, the Brain Spawn were ultimately vanquished in their second appearance on the show, specifically in season 4, episode 10, titled "The Why of Fry." The upcoming episode, "The Futurama Mystery Liberry," makes a reference to a line from the Brain Spawn's initial introduction in Futurama season 3, episode 7, called "The Day the Earth Stood Stupid," indicating the possibility of their return, even if it is only in a brief cameo.

4 A Disenchantment Crossover

Disenchantment made its connection to the Futurama universe evident in season 1, episode 10 titled "Dreamland Falls". In this episode, a brief glimpse is seen of Fry, Bender, and the Professor embarking on a time-travel adventure, reminiscent of their escapades in Futurama season 6, episode 7, titled "The Late Philip J. Fry". An acknowledgment from Futurama came in season 8, episode 7, titled "I Know What You Did Next Xmas", where the Professor, utilizing his time machine, catches a glimpse of Bean, Elfo, and Luci through a window. Although a crossover between Disenchantment and Futurama seems increasingly plausible now that Disenchantment has concluded, it is more likely that The Simpsons would be the first to explore this idea, considering that Futurama currently only produces 10 episodes per year.

3 The Return Of Marianne

2 The Sub-Mutants

In the previous penultimate episode of Futurama, Dr. Zoidberg finally discovers a sense of happiness through his newfound girlfriend, Marianne. It was a departure from the series' norm as they explicitly chose to keep them together at the conclusion of the episode. This provided Zoidberg with a well-deserved happy ending after enduring 139 episodes of despair. However, in the current season, Marianne remains inexplicably absent and is not even mentioned in "I Know What You Did Next Xmas." Despite Futurama's past willingness to recast characters, it is unlikely that the reason for her absence is due to the unavailability of Marianne's voice actor, Emilia Clarke. Nevertheless, this creates the perfect setup for an emotionally charged episode, revealing the truth about her disappearance and challenging Zoidberg to win her back.

In a Futurama episode from season 2, titled "I Second That Emotion," the Planet Express team assists the sewer mutants in defeating El Chupanibre by flushing him into the sub-sewer below. This leads to speculation among the mutants about the existence of a sub-mutant race residing in that region. Although initially a casual joke, it presents significant possibilities that could be further explored in an entire episode. A mission to the Earth's core could compel the crew to venture into the sub-sewer, followed by the sub-sub-sewer and so on, revealing new mutant communities at every level.

1 When Nibbler Referred To Leela As "The Other"

In "The Why of Fry," Fry travels back to 1999 and discovers that it was Nibbler who caused him to be cryogenically frozen. This surprising revelation had actually been hinted at in Futurama's pilot years ago. Nibbler persuades future-Fry not to alter the past by questioning if he cares about anything in the future. When Fry mentions Leela, Nibbler responds with a thoughtful remark, "She must be the other..." This line has sparked speculation about Leela potentially having a hidden purpose crucial to the safety of the entire universe, given Fry's significant role in the war between the Nibblonians and the Brain Spawn. This intriguing possibility has yet to be explored in Futurama, but the time is ripe for it.

Catch new episodes of Futurama every Monday on Hulu.