Character

Jor-El

Jor-El in Futurama (1999), played by Billy West.

Jor-El shows up in a Superman-origin parody, the stern scientist father who puts his infant son in a rocket bound for Earth as his world faces destruction. He speaks in grave, portentous tones, fully committed to the melodrama of the moment despite being surrounded by Futurama's usual anarchic silliness.

The joke is entirely in Billy West's delivery — a dead-on Marlon Brando impression poured into a two-minute cameo, treating the most familiar origin story in pop culture with straight-faced solemnity. It works because nobody involved winks at the audience; the seriousness is the punchline.

Played by

Appears in

Futurama1999