Good News Everyone Futurama Gets 3 Extended Special Episodes as Season 14 Trailer Debuts at Comic-Con

Good News, Everyone! ‘Futurama’ Gets 3 Extended Special Episodes as Season 14 Trailer Debuts at Comic-Con

If you thought the Futurama revival was winding down, think again. Hulu has just greenlit three extended-length “XXXL” special episodes of the beloved animated sci-fi comedy, announced during the show’s San Diego Comic-Con panel on Saturday. That’s on top of the already-anticipated Season 14, which is set to premiere next week.

The Comic-Con panel brought together creator Matt Groening, showrunner David X. Cohen, and the core voice cast — Billy West, John DiMaggio, Katey Sagal, Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche, Lauren Tom, Phil LaMarr, and David Herman — to deliver what fans have been waiting for: a first look at the new season and word on what’s coming next.

“We’re not done yet,” the team seemed to say, as they unveiled a brand-new trailer for Futurama Season 14 and confirmed that the show’s future extends well beyond the upcoming season.

Three “XXXL” Specials Coming in 2027

The biggest news out of the panel was the announcement of three extended-length special episodes, currently in production. Described as “XXXL-sized,” the specials will go beyond the standard episode runtime and deliver something closer to a mini-movie experience. The first of these specials will be a Christmas-themed episode slated to kick things off sometime in 2027.

Details on the other two specials are being kept tightly under wraps for now, but given the show’s history of sublime holiday episodes — from “Xmas Story” to “The Futurama Holiday Spectacular” — a Christmas special feels like a perfect fit for the Planet Express crew’s particular brand of chaos.

The specials come as Hulu continues investing heavily in adult animation. The streaming giant has found success reviving beloved animated series, a strategy that has also paid off for other networks. Just look at how Family Guy has maintained its fanbase across multiple network and streaming homes, proving that audiences still crave irreverent animated comedy.

Season 14 Premieres August 3 on Hulu

Before the specials arrive, Futurama Season 14 makes its debut on Monday, August 3 on Hulu (and Hulu on Disney+ in select markets). Unlike the previous Hulu revival seasons, which dropped all episodes at once, Season 14 will adopt a weekly rollout — the first two episodes premiere on August 3, with subsequent episodes releasing weekly after that.

This shift to a weekly release schedule is interesting. It suggests Hulu sees Futurama as a tentpole series worth stretching out, building anticipation over several weeks rather than burning through in a single weekend. It also positions the show alongside other weekly animated offerings, giving fans something to look forward to each week.

The Season 14 trailer shown at Comic-Con promises more of everything fans love: sharp sci-fi parodies, emotional gut-punches hidden inside goofy jokes, Bender’s latest get-rich-quick scheme, Fry’s endearing cluelessness, Leela’s exasperated leadership, and enough one-liners to keep the internet quoting for months. Matt Groening’s signature humor remains unmistakably intact, as it does across all of his projects — including Disenchantment, his fantasy epic that ran for five seasons on Netflix.

What This Means for the Show’s Future

The Futurama revival on Hulu has been something of a rollercoaster. The show was brought back from the dead (again) in 2023 after a decade-long hiatus, initially for 20 episodes split across two seasons. That was later expanded, and now Season 14 is set to be the final confirmed full season of the initial Hulu revival order. But with these three new specials now in production, it’s clear the relationship between Hulu and the Planet Express crew isn’t ending anytime soon.

Executive producers have hinted that if the specials perform well, they could open the door to more content — possibly even a full-length movie, a format the franchise has explored successfully before. The four direct-to-video movies from the late 2000s (later split into the “comedy” seasons) proved that Futurama can sustain longer narratives without losing its comedic edge.

In an era where streaming platforms are slashing budgets and canceling shows left and right, the fact that Hulu is doubling down on Futurama — not just renewing it but expanding it with specials — is a strong vote of confidence. The show consistently performs well on the platform, and its fanbase spans generations. Original viewers who started watching when the show first aired on Fox in 1999 are now introducing it to their kids.

That kind of multi-generational appeal is rare. The Simpsons has it. Rick and Morty has it. And Futurama — despite being canceled multiple times — has earned it the hard way, by being relentlessly creative across three different decades.

The Comic-Con Vibe

Saturday’s panel was clearly a celebration. The cast and crew seemed genuinely energized by the fan response, and the trailer reportedly drew loud applause. For a show that has been canceled more times than a Bender-themed restaurant health inspection, each new chapter feels like a victory lap.

The Comic-Con setting was also where the original series first gained traction after its initial Fox cancellation. Adult Swim reruns turned Futurama into a cult phenomenon, and the show’s annual Comic-Con presence has been a tradition ever since. This year’s panel carried extra weight, coming as it did with news of not just a new season but expanded content beyond it.

Why Futurama Keeps Coming Back

There’s something uniquely resilient about Futurama. It’s a show that has been canceled four separate times — by Fox, by Comedy Central’s rerun cycle, by the direct-to-video market, and now resurrected by streaming. Each time, the creative team has come back with the same energy, the same sharp writing, and the same willingness to take risks. Other animated shows come and go, but Futurama has become the cockroach of television — it just won’t die, and fans genuinely don’t want it to.

When to Watch

Here’s your Futurama timeline going forward:

• August 3, 2026 — Season 14 premieres on Hulu (first two episodes)
• Weekly after August 3 — Remaining Season 14 episodes
• 2027 — First “XXXL” Christmas special debuts
• TBD — Remaining two extended specials

Whether you’re a longtime fan who remembers watching “Roswell That Ends Well” when it first aired or a newcomer who discovered the show on streaming, there’s never been a better time to be a Futurama fan. The show that keeps refusing to die is doing what it does best: staying alive, staying funny, and staying weird.

And honestly? We wouldn’t have it any other way.