''Future Man'' is an American

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

television series created by Howard Overman, Kyle Hunter and Ariel Shaffir that premiered on November 14, 2017 on

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

. The series follows an underachieving janitor who is called upon to save the world. It stars Josh Hutcherson, Eliza Coupe, Derek Wilson, Ed Begley Jr., Glenne Headly,

Seth Rogen Seth Aaron Rogen (; born April 15, 1982) is a Canadian actor, comedian, and filmmaker. Known primarily for his comedic Leading actor, leading man roles in films, the accolades he has received include nominations for three Golden Globe Awards, ...

and Haley Joel Osment in recurring roles and is executive produced by

and

Evan Goldberg Evan D. Goldberg (born September 15, 1982) is a Canadian screenwriter, film producer and director. He has collaborated with his childhood friend Seth Rogen on a variety of films, including '' Superbad'', '' Pineapple Express'', '' This Is the En ...

. A third and final season was released on April 3, 2020. It was later removed from all Disney streaming services including Hulu and Disney+ in May 2023 due to Disney's budget cuts.

Premise

An aimless janitor, Josh Futterman, leads a nondescript life. Josh's sole hobby is playing video games, specifically ''Biotic Wars'', a game considered unbeatable. After finally completing the game after many attempts, the game's two main characters, Tiger and Wolf, suddenly appear and recruit Josh to save the world from the real Biotic Wars. Josh and his companions travel through time to change the future.

Cast and characters

Main

* Josh Hutcherson as Josh Futterman, a gormless young man who works at a high-level medical research facility as a janitor, still living with his parents and the only person in existence to finish ''Biotic Wars'', which prompts life-travelling soldiers from the future to appear and hail him as the saviour, ''Future Man'', recruiting Josh for their war. * Eliza Coupe as Tiger/Ty-Anne. Tiger is the commander of a rebel unit from the distant future who travels back in time to recruit Josh into aiding their mission to prevent a deadly war from occurring. Ty-Anne is an alternate timeline version of Tiger created by the events that unfurled after Tiger, Josh and Wolf were ultimately successful in their original mission by stopping Kronish's cure from being made public. * Derek Wilson as Wolf/Torque. Wolf is the sole surviving member of Tiger's unit from the future, who joins her in attempting to recruit Josh. Like Ty-Anne, Torque is an alternate timeline version of Wolf created by events after Kronish's eventual defeat. * Ed Begley, Jr. as Gabe Futturman (season 1), Josh's father. * Glenne Headly as Diane Futturman (season 1), Josh's mother. * Keith David as Doctor Elias Kronish (season 1), a scientist whose contraction of

herpes Herpes simplex, often known simply as herpes, is a viral infection caused by the herpes simplex virus. Herpes infections are categorized by the area of the body that is infected. The two major types of herpes are oral herpes and genital herp ...

at a young age spurs him on a lifelong search for a cure, which leads to a super panacea for all diseases that is responsible for the eventual creation of the Biotics. * Haley Joel Osment as Doctor Stu Camillo, a scientist initially working for Dr Kronish, who goes on to create the Bio-techs after Kronish's plan for a super cure has been stopped by Josh. *

as Susan Saint Jackalope (season 3; guest season 2), the presenter of "The DieCathalon", a '' The Running Man''-inspired death game, which collects people from time to hunt for fun.

Recurring

* Robert Craighead as Vincent Skarsgaard (season 1; guest season 2), a seasoned police officer pursuing Tiger and Wolf linearly across decades for the murder of his partner when he was a rookie cop. * Britt Lower as Jeri Elizabeth Lang/Jeri (season 1; guest season 2), a time-travelling Biotic sent back to monitor and intervene at Kronish's lab. Jeri is a Bio-tech and member of the resistance to Stu Carmillo * Kevin Caliber as Blaze (season 1) * Paul Scheer as Paul, a friend and then employee of Josh's. (season 1; guest season 2) *

Awkwafina Nora Lum (born June 2, 1988), known professionally as Awkwafina (), is an American actress, comedian and rapper. She rose to prominence in 2012 when her rap song "My Vag" became popular on YouTube. She then released her debut album, ''Yellow Ra ...

as Tracy, a friend and then employee of Josh's (season 1) * Katherine LaNasa as Athena/Dr Hogeveen (season 2), the founder of the Resistance, assistant to Stu and nanny of Ty-Anne. *

Artemis Pebdani Artemis Pebdani is an American actress, best known for her roles as Susan Ross on ''Scandal (TV series), Scandal'', Artemis Dubois on ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia,'' and Gramma Alice on ''Big City Greens''. Early life Pebdani was born and ...

as Doctor Mina Ahmadi (season 2), an AI aspect of Stu who serves as his therapist. * Ricky Mabe as Pump (season 2) * Shaun Brown as Hatchet (season 2) * Sara Amini as Thimble (season 2) * Rati Gupta as Rake (season 2) * Tim Johnson Jr. as Jimmy (season 2) * Jade Catta-Preta as Level (season 2) * Timothy Hornor as Lathe (season 2) * Kimberly Hébert Gregory as Mathers (season 3), a single-minded bureaucrat hunting Wolf, Tiger, and Josh on behalf of the network. * Fajer Al-Kaisi as Bin Laden (season 3), an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

version of the real-life terrorist from an alternate reality where he was prevented from becoming one. * Nick Wyman as

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

(season 3), a resident of Haven and former

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

rescued from death by Josh. * Laurent Pitre as Big Time (season 3), a college student and accidental creator of time travel, Haven and the Big Suck.

Guest

* Ron Funches as Ray ("Pilot") * Martin Starr as Lyle Karofsky ("A Fuel's Errand") * David Koechner as Barry Futturman ("A Blowjob Before Dying") *

Carolyn Hennesy Carolyn Hennesy (born June 10, 1962) is an American actress, writer, and animal advocate. Hennesy's early work consisted of guest appearances and roles in shows and television movies, including ''Dark Justice'' and in '' Deadly Invasion: The Ki ...

as Wanda ("A Blowjob Before Dying") * Megan Hayes as the voice of SIGORN-E ("Pandora's Mailbox") *

Charlie McDermott Charles Joseph McDermott Jr. (born April 6, 1990) is an American retired actor and folk musician. After making his film debut in '' The Village'' (2004), McDermott had his breakout with a starring role in the crime drama film '' Frozen River'' ...

as young Barry Futturman ("Operation: Natal Attraction") * Diona Reasonover as Estelle Kronish (seasons 1–2; "Beyond the TruffleDome" and "The Last Horchata") * Corey Hart as himself ("Prelude to an Apocalypse") * Carla Gallo as Dingo ("A Date with Destiny") * Jon Daly as Owl ("A Date with Destiny") * Will Forte as the voice of CASSIN-E ("The i of the Tiger") * Kristen Schaal as Screw ("Guess Who's Coming to Lunch") * Kurtwood Smith as Supreme Overlord General Vise Myrmbeater ("The Binx Ultimatum") * Laura Baranik as Dasha Ovechkin ("There Will Be Borscht") * Ami Bejko as

Anne Frank Annelies Marie Frank (, ; 12 June 1929 – February or March 1945)Research by The Anne Frank House in 2015 revealed that Frank may have died in February 1945 rather than in March, as Dutch authorities had long assumed"New research sheds new li ...

("Haven Is for Real"), a resident of Haven and Jewish teenager saved from Nazis by J1. * Chala Hunter as

Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( ; July 24, 1897 – January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer. On July 2, 1937, she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world. During her li ...

("The Land After Time"), a resident of Haven and former pilot rescued from death by J1, and a love interest of Josh's. * Chris Mark as

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (born Lee Jun-fan; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was an American-born Hong Kong martial artist, actor, filmmaker, and philosopher. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy which was formed from ...

("The Land After Time"), a resident of Haven and former martial artist and actor rescued from death by J1, and a love interest of Josh's. * Nicolas Grimes as The Killing Machine (season 3), a

cyborg A cyborg (, a portmanteau of ''cybernetics, cybernetic'' and ''organism'') is a being with both Organic matter, organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline.clone of the 300 Spartans hunting Wolf, Tiger, and Josh.

Episodes

Season 1 (2017)

Season 2 (2019)

Season 3 (2020)

Production

Development

On September 9, 2016, it was announced that Hulu had ordered the production to series after reviewing the recently produced pilot. The series order was reported to be for a first season consisting of thirteen episodes. The pilot was written by Ariel Shaffir and Kyle Hunter from a story by the duo and Howard Overman and was directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. The series' executive producers include Shaffir, Hunter, Rogen, Goldberg and James Weaver. On January 8, 2018, it was announced that Hulu had renewed the series for a second season consisting of thirteen episodes. On October 1, 2018, it was announced that the second season would premiere on January 11, 2019. On April 9, 2019, it was reported that Hulu renewed the series for a third and final season which premiered on April 3, 2020.

Casting

On February 17, 2016, it was announced that Josh Hutcherson had been cast in the television pilot's lead role. A week later, it was reported that Eliza Coupe had also been cast in a main role. On March 7, 2016, it was announced that Glenne Headly and Ed Begley Jr. had joined the main cast as Hutcherson's character's parents. On May 2, 2016, Derek Wilson joined the production in a main role. In April 2017, it was reported that Patrick Carlyle and Robert Craighead had been cast in recurring roles. On June 28, 2018, it was announced that Shaun Brown had joined the cast in a recurring capacity. On July 17, 2018, it was reported that Sara Amini and Rati Gupta had been cast in recurring roles. In August 2018, it was announced that Tim Johnson Jr., Jade Catta-Preta, and Timothy Hornor had also been cast in recurring roles.

Filming

On June 8, 2017, cast member Glenne Headly died after she filmed five episodes of the planned 13-episode season order. Producers stated that she would not be recast and that the episodes she filmed will air, leaving the writers with the need to rework the episodes she was due to feature in.

Release

In the US ''Future Man'' streams on Hulu. As of 2022, ''Future Man'' was available to stream on

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

internationally in selected territories via the

Star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...

hub, as a part of the 2021 Disney/Sony deal which covers shows from Sony Pictures Television. All 3 seasons ''Future Man'' were later removed from Hulu, Disney+ and Star+ due to Disney's budget cuts.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, season 1 has an approval rating of 82% based on 39 reviews, with an average rating of 7.08 out of 10. The website's critical consensus reads, "''Future Man''s nostalgia-driven premise is elevated by the cast's compelling chemistry and a sense of humor just dumb enough to lighten the sci-fi load." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

season 1 has a weighted average score of 70 out of 100 based on reviews from 20 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Alex McLevy of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' praises the committed performances, the "gleefully ludicrous nonsense", and that "If it figures out the proper tone and blend of stupid-smart jokes with its game cast, the series could potentially travel forward to a time when it becomes a great sci-fi comedy." On Rotten Tomatoes, season 2 has an approval rating of 100% based on 9 reviews, with an average rating of 8.03 out of 10. Adam Chitwood of

Collider A collider is a type of particle accelerator that brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Compared to other particle accelerators in which the moving particles collide with a stationary matter target, collid ...

wrote: "Future Man's strength as a series has been the writers' willingness to take the sci-fi seriously, and indeed there are times when you almost want the joke to be done so you can find out what happens next in the story." On Rotten Tomatoes, season 3 has 3 positive reviews. Alex McLevy of ''

'' wrote: "Future Man finds a decent denouement to close out its triptych of seasons, and those who enjoyed past installments won’t be let down by this one. If only all that traveling through space and time could have found a more richly developed series." Adam Chitwood of

called it "A little disappointing but not inessential" and that although it will not convince those who never got into the show to check it out, it should satisfy fans of the series.

Awards and nominations

In 2018, ''Future Man'' was nominated for Best New Media Superhero Series at the 44th Saturn Awards.

Home media

References

External links

* * {{Point Grey Pictures 2010s American comic science fiction television series 2017 American television series debuts 2020 American television series endings American English-language television shows Hulu original programming Television series by Sony Pictures Television Cultural depictions of Anne Frank