Futurama Season 13’s Shocking Pazuzu Return Explained

Debuting in 1999, Futurama has become an animated classic over the past few decades, and for the first time in nine seasons, a forgotten fan favorite has returned to the series. Having been off air for around 10 years, Futurama returned in 2023 and didn’t miss a beat, with season 11 largely maintaining the show’s quality outside a few underwhelming episodes.

Season 12 continued this momentum, becoming one of Hulu’s best shows of 2024, and the 13th installment just concluded, wrapping up yet another solid outing. Even in such a new comedic climate, Futurama still manages to hang with its competitors and come up with new ideas, proving why it will always have a place in the adult animation genre.

However, despite all these fresh concepts, the show’s revival clearly isn’t against bringing back familiar faces. Among Futurama‘s multiverse and endless universes, Pazuzu eventually returned for a very brief cameo in season 13’s premiere, and it felt like a long time coming, given his last TV appearance came all the way back in 2003.

Pazuzu Finally Returns In Futurama Season 13 Episode 1

Having been introduced in season 4’s “Teenage Mutant Leela’s Hurdles”, Pazuzu has been absent in the series ever since, until finally returning in season 13, episode 1. The gargoyle belonged to Professor Farnsworth, who helped put him through college, resulting in the creature granting Farnsworth three wishes, one of which was to help rescue him in Pazuzu’s season 4 debut.

He did appear once again in the franchise, but not in the main show. Instead, Pazuzu showed up in a movie titled Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Bucks, where he granted Farnsworth’s second wish of being broken out of prison, and while it seemed like his season 13 cameo could set up the final wish being cashed, this wasn’t the case.

Pazuzu’s recent appearance was actually very subtle, as he appeared in the background with the series barely even acknowledging his presence. This could mean Futurama plans on retconning his connection to Professor Farnsworth to make the show’s revival feel different, but until we see him again, this remains unclear, and hopefully it won’t take another two decades to find out.

What Futurama Season 13 Reveals About What Happened To Pazuzu After Season 4

Sadly, despite waiting so long for Futurama to bring back Pazuzu, very little was revealed about what he’s been up to since we last saw him. His cameo came in a bar that seemed to be themed around hell for robots, making him stand out compared to the other clientele. However, why he was there was never revealed.

We do know he has a son, but his whereabouts were also left unknown, making the lack of updates about this one-of-a-kind character all the more frustrating. All we really learned is that he seems to be more than comfortable in a club environment, as he was seen puffing on something during his very brief appearance.

Ultimately, Futurama failed to add anything to the gargoyle’s story, but bringing back Pazuzu in season 13 may have helped set the stage for a bigger role in future seasons, and it’s worth holding out hope that the fan favorite will return sooner rather than later.

Release Date

March 28, 1999

Showrunner

Matt Groening

Directors

Peter Avanzino, Brian Sheesley, Crystal Chesney, Frank Marino, Edmund Fong, Stephen Sandoval, Bret Haaland, Rich Moore, Ron Hughart, Dwayne Carey-Hill, Raymie Muzquiz, Mark Ervin, Susie Dietter, Gregg Vanzo, Swinton O. Scott III, Ira Sherak, James Purdum, Corey Barnes, Lance Kramer, Ray Claffey, Chris Sauve, Jeffrey Lynch, Pat Shinagawa, Wes Archer

Writers

Eric Rogers, Dan Vebber, Maiya Williams, David A. Goodman, Ron Weiner, Aaron Ehasz, Kristin Gore, Brian Kelley, Evan Gore, Heather Lombard, Jason Gorbett, Michael Saikin

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  Billy West

  Fry / Professor Farnsworth / Zoidberg / Zapp Brannigan (voice)

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  Katey Sagal

  Leela (voice)