Futurama Producer Teases New Romance for Zoidberg “It’ll Be a Fan Pleaser”

Futurama has returned for a whole new season of episodes to Hulu, and the executive producer behind it all teases that next season will have a “fan pleaser” story for Zoidberg coming soon. Zoidberg has been one of the more interesting characters to see evolve over the course of the long running animated series. Beginning the show as a wacky doctor who was in over his head, the seasons since have revealed that his life is much worse off than fans would have ever guessed. But while he was the butt of the joke before, that’s started to change in recent years.

Futurama Season 13 takes another step in this direction as Zoidberg and Leela form a surprising new connection when the two of them actually become siblings. Asking Futurama executive producer David X. Cohen about this development and what this means for Zoidberg’s future, Cohen revealed to ComicBook about the changing way the show is looking at the character and teased a Zoidberg romance coming next season he thinks will “be a fan pleaser, very moving episode.”

Futurama Producer Drops Big Tease for New Zoidberg Romance

“That’s an emotional episode about Zoidberg,” Cohen stated about Futurama Season 13’s big Zoidberg episode. “That’s a sentence that you would not have expected to hear in season at all. It has really taken us a long time. I think to have enough, pity is not quite the right word, because that’s still not necessarily emotional, but enough understanding of Zoidberg.” In terms of taking Dr. Zoidberg in this new direction, Cohen reacted to the new layers added to the character in the more recent seasons as the show continues with new episodes. “Zoidberg’s been in love now and you can actually do some emotional stuff about Dr. Zoidberg.”

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But it turns out there’s even more on the way as Cohen teased one of the series’ “most beautiful episodes” in its history coming about Zoidberg in Futurama Season 14. “We have I think, one of the most beautiful episodes in the history of the series coming next, again I don’t want to hype up next year too much, that involves a Zoidberg romance. I’m not going to say too much more, but I think it’ll be a fan pleaser, very moving episode. So Zoidberg is rising through the ranks in terms of what we can do with him.” So fans better brace themselves for what’s next.

What Could This Mean for Zoidberg?

Cohen did drop a major tease about Zoidberg with this one, but the biggest part of the tease is the fact that it’s a story that he believes is one of the “most beautiful” in the show’s run overall. That’s quite a lot considering that Futurama has hit fans very hard with its emotional beats in the past, and it’s even more impressive that Zoidberg will be at the receiving end of one of these kinds of episodes. But the “fan pleaser” note is even more intriguing.

Cohen mentioned Zoidberg being in love in the past, and that was unfortunately a dropped idea heading into the new Hulu era episodes. Zoidberg found love with Marianne (guest voiced by Emilia Clarke) in Season 10’s “Stench and Sensibility” as the two formed a couple, but she mysteriously disappeared when the show returned for its new episodes with Hulu. It’d be a big deal to big her back into the series with its next episode, so there’s a hope that it happens. If not, then someone truly fit for Zoidberg that can stick around for the long run would be great.

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