Futurama Season 13 Has a Big Multiverse Story Trap to Avoid After Season 12’s Incredible Ending

The following contains spoilers for Futurama season 12 episode 10, “Different,” now streaming on Hulu

FuturamaThe season 12 finale opened the door for the show to dive into the multiverse, which could be an exciting (but risky) direction for the series. FuturamaHe has always been able to push the boundaries of sci-fi and comedy thanks to his futuristic setting. However, the introduction of the multiversal tear known as the graveyard of ships has expanded the scope of the series to countless other possible realities. The episode even featured a great setup for the concept to be expanded upon, with the main cast venturing across timelines and dimensions.

The end of season 12 sets in Futurama For a truly wild season 13. However, there are some elements of the show that could only be exacerbated by this new direction. If Futurama Is not careful, these problems may remove any sense of stakes from the adventures of the Planet Express crew. Instead, by using Fry and Leela’s bittersweet ending in “Otherwise” as a guiding light, the show has the ideal way to avoid the flaws that have plagued other multiverse narratives in film and television.

Futurama’s multiverse expands the series

“Other” opens up a multiverse of possibility

FuturamaThis new approach to the multiverse is an exciting but risky way to expand the sci-fi series. Futurama has always been an inventive series, thanks in large part to the sheer scope and design of the setting. The 31st century is a place where technology and culture, both on Earth and across the cosmos, could set up theoretically endless possibilities. Other dimensions and realities are even on the table, as seen in episodes like season 5’s “The Farnsworth Parabox.” However, “Other” takes things even further by exposing a riff in the multiverse.

The existence of the multiverse is an exciting prospectEspecially for a show that has already introduced many variants on the main cast in various anthology episodes. With the Planet Express Crew ending season 12 of Futurama Drifting into the vast multiverse, the set-up is set to throw the cast into a wild and inventive new set of adventures. The formal introduction of the multiverse device Futurama Has no limits, especially if it avoids a previous habit of brushing off major events between episodes.

Futurama season 13 needs to deal with the multiverse

Futurama Can’t waste a great idea

Futurama had previously threatened to rework their entire universe in episodes like season 6’s “Into the Wild Green Yonder” and the world-ending conclusion to season 12’s “Attack of the Clothes,” only to immediately backtrack. The former even echoes the ending of “Otherwise,” both concluding with the Planet Express crew venturing into the unknown. However, season 7 quickly undercut that turn by bringing the crew back to Earth in the season premiere episode, “Rebirth.” Futurama Needs to avoid repeating that mistakeAs the prospect of a full multiverse of adventures is too good to let go.

Even if the Planet Express crew can find a way back to their version of New New York, the show can’t simply ignore the turn of events. The Planet Express crew must confront the possibilities and scope of the multiverse. The concept is too big and expands the universe so significantly that it would feel like a real waste if the show didn’t address it upfront. This can be done Futurama To potentially venture into the multiverse and set up new stories or threats to be encountered and would be a fun expansion of the setting.

Futurama’s anthologies may tease a multiverse problem

A lack of stakes can make Futuramas multiverse anticlimactic

There is also a real risk that comes with transforming Futurama In a multiversal show. Futurama Already had a problem with floors, because death means little in an environment like the 31st century. The introduction of a multiverse full of variants can reduce the stakes even more so, making character deaths so trivial and ordinary that they lose any dramatic weight. The non-canon anthologies emphasize this risk, albeit in a fun way. The shorts, free of the typical Futurama canon, They are quick to break the status quo and even kill off major characters casually.

These may work in short bursts thanks to the comedic nature of the show and the anthologies, but they can impact any attempt to bring stakes and scale to the main cast’s adventures. “Otherwise” tells a wonderful little bittersweet multiverse storyBut arcs that aren’t as focused on characters can give the entire multiverse a throwaway feel that undermines the strong character work that’s always elevated. Futurama Like a show.

Futurama’s Season 12 Finale is a Big Multiverse Story

“Different” proves that the multiverse can be great for storytelling

luckily, “Different” is a perfect little example of how powerful Futuramas multiverse can be. The story diverges when the Planet Express crew falls into the multiverse, with much of the episode following their variants that escaped that fate. Frey and Leela get engaged, even as visions of other lifetimes steadily drive Frey to despair. Free, Leela and Bender return to the spaceship graveyard and end up in a fight they can’t win, dying in the process.

The variants are given the focus and time to really feel like full versions of the characters, especially as the tension of their situation escalates. “Other” allows the creators to give one version of Frei and Leela painfully bittersweet closureA suitably tragic finale not undermined by their lack of canonical importance. Just like how Futurama Has always grounded massive sci-fi concepts with humanistic elements, a focus on character-driven storytelling could allow the show to explore the multiverse without losing sight of itself.

What Futurama season 13 has to do with the multiverse

A focus on character is vital to Futuramas future

Futurama Needs to avoid the trappings that have caught up to multiversal points like Rick & Morty Or franchises like the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Those stories, for better or worse, have created such vast multiverses that entire realities can be wiped out like an ape. It takes away from the dramatic tension if a character can simply be replaced with a variant, or if a shift to different realities has no character consequences. Futurama Needs to use the multiverse as an opportunity to expand and explore its central charactersEspecially in completely new settings.

Futurama May repeat the settings of previous anthologies, expand on their stories or openly compare them to the main versions of the cast. The multiverse could set up dangerous new adventures that could allow the show to subvert sci-fi tropes and expectations. As long as the series remains character-driven, The plots and emotional throughlines should remain strong Regardless of where the story takes the crew. Futurama Has a great opportunity to expand his world to a limitless degree, but it needs to be careful how they go about it.