Futurama Fans Are Hoping For More Answers On This Character In The Reboot

If you don't think that "Futurama" was littered with memorable minor characters during its first two runs on the air, then you don't know Hypnotoad. There's no denying that Matt Groening's zany gaze into the world of tomorrow gave us countless characters whose words and actions would leave us in stitches. And it didn't just stop with the main cast. Fleshing out just how utterly absurd the future had become gave writers plenty of opportunities to write utterly, implausibly hilarious walk-ons. After all, as we've said before, a sitcom set a thousand years in the future can do pretty much whatever it wants.

Some characters, like evil corporate overlord Mom, play major roles in several plots throughout the series — in Mom's case as a frequent antagonist. Others, like the aforementioned Hypnotoad, came about as the result of happy accidents during production (per CBR). Nonetheless, they wound up fan favorites, even if they rarely drive forward the primary plot. Still others have only appeared in a single episode in the massive universe of "Futurama," but have somehow made quite the impression on loyal fans. Now, with the reboot imminent, there's one incredibly minor character that fans are hoping they get background on.

"Kinda hoping we get some background on this guy in the reboot..." wrote u/PlayerTwo85 in the r/futurama subreddit. "This guy" is a bespectacled scientist of some kind. As subsequent comments make clear, he is a minor character, appearing several times in a single episode: "Three Hundred Big Boys." When Leela (Katey Sagal) looks to use her tax refund to swim with a whale, she goes to the Brooklyn Aquarium and purchases her time with Mushu the whale from this man, voiced by David Herman.

"I'm the whale biologist," he says. "Though personally I hate whales. Especially Mushu." We never learn his name. We also, pointedly, never learn why he decided to become a whale biologist despite hating whales. He pops up a few more times in the episode, normally just to say something insulting, which he excuses because he's a whale biologist. And judging by the number of responses u/PlayerTwo85's original post got –- most of which, like from u/Ill-Ad-532 and u/MalfunctioningScotty, are simply quoting his rude responses –- many others would love to see the whale biologist's return. "Maybe they will write him in if someone is wearing an ugly swimsuit," wrote u/donuts4lunch.

Even if the character doesn't get another go-around on the reboot, it's not unlikely that David Herman will. The "MADtv" alum appeared in more than a hundred episodes of "Futurama," voicing other recurring and minor characters from the unstable robot Roberto to Scruffy the Janitor (via IMDb). So while we may never find out how this whale-hating whale biologist came to be, we'll still be getting plenty of bizarre one-liners and oddball behavior — and with a voice we recognize to boot.