​​​​​​Warning: Spoilers ahead for Futurama season 12, episode 7, “Planet Espresso.”Futurama season 12 has made some very interesting creative decisions in recent episodes, and they could be a sign that the animated sitcom is quietly establishing a multiverse storyline. The multiverse clues haven’t been present in every Futurama season 12 episode so far, but when they’ve appeared, they point toward a sci-fi trope that the show has very rarely used. There could be other explanations, but the possibility of a Futurama multiverse is certainly exciting.

The Futurama cast has guided the audience through two revivals of the Matt Groening show. Each time Futurama has returned, the formula has been slightly different, but it has remained very recognizable as the same universe. Just as Futurama season’s 11 ending was very high-concept, the sitcom’s current run could also be gearing up to achieve something similar but also much more compelling. Only time will tell whether Futurama is setting up a multiverse arc, but this can be confirmed or denied sooner than one would expect.

“Planet Espresso” didn’t acknowledge the disaster in “Attack of the Clothes”

Futurama season 12, episode 6, “Attack of the Clothes,” ends with a cliffhanger, which isn’t a common occurrence. The show’s stories are usually confined to single installments, with all events tending to be resolved before the episode is over. However, the laundry-led apocalypse at the end of “Attack of the Clothes” is not addressed at all in the following installment, despite still being an ongoing threat at the end of episode 6. Instead, Futurama season 12, episode 7, “Planet Espresso,” moves onto a new storyline that also ends on a cliffhanger that’s unrelated to the one that preceded it.

Futurama
season 5, episode 10, “The Farnsworth Parabox” was the first and seemingly last time the show used the multiverse trope.

One possible explanation for Futurama‘s disregard for resolving one storyline before moving onto another could be that they’re set within different realities within the show’s universe. In other words, the two episodes could be from different points across Futurama‘s multiverse. That way, the two installments could operate independently of one another despite being populated with the same characters. Futurama season 5, episode 10, “The Farnsworth Parabox” was the first and seemingly last time the show used the multiverse trope, so it would be an exciting revisit if this turns out to be the case.

Futurama Season 12 Has Teased The Multiverse Already

“One is Silicon and the Other Gold” contains two references to “The Farnsworth Parabox”

Futurama season 12 hasn’t openly confirmed its potential plan to return to the multiverse, but there are clues that suggest that possibility. Interestingly, two of these clues fall within episode 5, “One is Silicon and the Other Gold.” The installment’s title is a coy reference to a line from “The Farnsworth Parabox,” when the two Benders are bidding each other farewell. The pair of robots share the recital of a fitting poem about friendship, which includes the line: “Make new friends and keep the old, one is silver and the other gold.”

Futurama
generally doesn’t acknowledge the trope it introduced in “The Farnsworth Parabox,” but the confirmation that it’s possible to communicate with alternate realities could be a huge signifier that the multiverse is coming back.

During an exchange between Hermes and Leela in “One is Silicon and the Other Gold,” Leela is berated by her colleague for the huge phone bill for which she’s responsible. Aghast, Hermes declares, “You can call a parallel universe for two cents an hour!“Futurama generally doesn’t acknowledge the trope it introduced in “The Farnsworth Parabox,” but the confirmation that it’s possible to communicate with alternate realities could be a huge signifier that the multiverse is coming back. Otherwise, it’s a very specific line for Hermes to say.

There’s An Easy Way Futurama Season 12, Episode 8 Can Address This Multiverse Theory

“Cuteness Overload” will be a big turning point

The ending of “Planet Espresso” mentions a process for humanity called “The Great Transition.” Related to a strain of coffee bean from beyond the stars, the goal of the quietly invading alien race is to subjugate Earth and its inhabitants. With everyone addicted to this new coffee, the aliens’ goal looks to be within their grasp. So, the next logical step would be for them to enact the next phase of their plan. This should really happen in the next episode, and if it doesn’t, then Futurama may have cut to another alternate reality.

Another clue could be if the characters are still enthusiastically drinking the same coffee in Futurama season 12, episode 8, “Cuteness Overload.” The plot again seems unrelated to episodes 6 or 7, but the presence of the coffee would suggest the invaders’ plan is still a possibility. If the coffee vanishes as the apocalypse did from “Attack of the Clothes,” then the theory about Futurama‘s reuse of the multiverse trope becomes much stronger.