The Simpsons has brought Apu Nahasapeemapetilon back into the conversation—and back into the speaking cast—with Indian-American actor Sunil Malhotra taking over the role previously performed by Hank Azaria. Apu’s return arrived as a surprise in “Treehouse of Horror Presents: The Revengening,” the third episode of Season 38, which aired October 18. IGN reported that the character had remained visible but silent since 2017, while Variety confirmed Malhotra’s casting.
The episode uses a suitably macabre setup for Apu’s first words in years. Springfield’s residents repeatedly kill a man wearing a Daft Punk-inspired Halloween costume, only to discover a year later that their apparent victim survived and is hunting them down one by one. The masked revenger is eventually revealed to be Apu, turning his comeback into a revenge story rather than a simple nostalgia stop. According to early coverage, the character is expected to remain part of the show beyond the Halloween episode.
Malhotra’s arrival also marks a significant change in how the character is presented. Azaria, who voiced Apu along with numerous other Simpsons characters for decades, stepped away from the role after the 2017 documentary The Problem With Apu examined the character’s effect on South Asian viewers and criticized the casting of a white actor. Reporting from NPR and PBS NewsHour documented how comedian Hari Kondabolu’s film helped push the debate over racial stereotypes and representation into the mainstream.
That history made accepting the audition complicated for Malhotra. He told Variety that the opportunity initially made his “stomach sink,” but also raised the possibility of reclaiming Apu and helping reshape him from inside the performance. The actor questioned whether the writers’ room and the character’s approach had changed, and ultimately agreed after conversations with the producers convinced him that the revival would address the past rather than simply reproduce it.
Executive producer Matt Selman framed the decision as an attempt to evolve a character the producers still value. “We love this character,” Selman told Variety, adding that the creative team wanted to bring Apu back in a way that felt “smart” and recognizably Simpsons-like. The casting process was reportedly kept under tight nondisclosure agreements, including the table read and later production, allowing the episode to preserve its reveal.
Whether the new version satisfies longtime viewers—and viewers who stopped watching because of Apu’s portrayal—will depend on what the series does next. The recasting gives The Simpsons an opportunity to make Apu more than a familiar Kwik-E-Mart fixture, but the character’s return also keeps the show’s long-running representation debate in view. For now, the most important change is straightforward: Apu is no longer silent, and his future voice belongs to Sunil Malhotra.
