The Simpsons is the longest-running animated series in North America, and Springfield enthusiasts have several new seasons to look forward to, as it has been renewed through season 40. While Fox Animation hasn’t confirmed whether Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie will return following that upcoming season, there has been one character who hasn’t been a part of the series for quite some time. Apu Nahasapeemapetilon has been absent from the beloved show since 2017, with voice actor Hank Azaria stating that he would no longer voice the character. Luckily, Apu has finally returned, though not in the way that many might expect.
The last time we saw Apu in action was in the twenty-ninth season episode, “The Serfsons,” in October of 2017. This means that it has been almost a decade since we saw Apu present in any episode, as Azaria has stepped back from voicing the character. With no replacement confirmed, Apu still, apparently, lives in Springfield, as his absence has yet to be mentioned in the story itself. Ironically, the final episode featuring Apu wasn’t a “Kwik-E-Mart-centric” installment at all, with Apu only making a brief appearance. On The Simpsons’ social media account, you can see that the franchise hasn’t forgotten about the convenience store worker, bringing him back once again to sell a unique “Squishee.”
The Simpsons has recast plenty of characters in recent years, with characters such as Carl and Dr. Hibbert being some of the biggest examples. Carl, for example, was also voiced by Hank Azaria, though was replaced by new voice actor Alex Desert, while Hibbert, who was voiced originally by Harry Shearer, is now brought to life by voice actor Kevin Michael Richardson. The franchise confirmed that the recasting was decided to have voice actors who are the same race as the characters themselves, making for a big change for the long-running series.
Last year, Azaria broke down specifically why he left Apu behind: “Honestly, at first I thought ‘Let me look into this and then I’ll go back to doing the voice and say I understand, but I’m going to keep doing this.’ I was surprised myself when I came down on, ‘No, I actually think I am participating in a harm here.’ While Apu might not be the most important thing in the world, it’s a window into quite an important thing.”
Aside from the social media post, The Simpsons has yet to state if Apu will be recast or if he will ever return to the series. With the long history that the Kwik-E-Mart owner has had over the course of the series, fingers crossed we’ll at least get one more opportunity to see Apu return.
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