We will get the return of Kwanzaabot in the Hulu Futurama revival with Coolio as he recorded before his death, as confirmed to Entertainment Weekly by producer David X. Cohen. The Grammy-winning rapper and actor died at 59 on Wednesday (September 28).
Cohen confirmed that Coolio recorded his role for the Futurama Hulu revival for a single episode. Not only will fans get to hear him voice the character, but he recorded a rap song in the theme of the series for the closing credits. The episode will also include a dedication to the rapper. The producer also noted when he saw the rapper in the studio, he “looked and sounded great,” which made his death so “shocking.”
Coolio reprised his role for the Futurama Hulu revival before his death
Kwanzaabot would go around to explain the holiday Kwanzaa. Coolio first appeared as the Futurama character in the 2001 episode, A Tale of Two Santas. He reprised the role in 2007 for the film Bender’s Big Score and 2010’s The Futurama Holiday Spectacular. He had a song in the 2010 episode and rapped in the film with Robot Santa (John DiMaggio) and Hanukkah Zombie (Mark Hamill).
Born Artis Leon Ivey Jr., Coolio had a huge career between cameos in Futurama and other acting roles. He also won a Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance for his Gangsta’s Paradise. He had six nominations throughout his music career. Other acting appearances he had made include the Ben Affleck Daredevil movie, Space: Above and Beyond, The Nanny, Static Shock, and Gravity Falls.
The Hulu revival of Futurama just shows how the series created by Matt Groening is seemingly unkillable. Its original run on Fox went from 1999 to 2003. Comedy Central picked it up for four straight-to-video movies and a new series in 2008 that led to a cancellation in 2013. Now the original cast return in 2023 for another go at the animated series.
