Two announcements last week from Hulu might be an indication that the streaming service has increased its clout lately in the arena of Hollywood deal-making.

This may be due to the fact that it is now part of Disney, the deep-pocketed colossus that bought out its Hulu partners in 2019 to become sole owner of the streaming service.

In the two announcements, the world learned that Hulu has made a deal to revive the Matt Groening animated series “Futurama,” and another deal that will bring the Kardashians back to TV, even though they appeared to be bidding a final farewell to TV when they signed off from E! in June of last year.

In the context of this Hulu announcement, the Kardashians’ decision to close up shop on “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” (“KUWTK”) after 14 years (and 20 seasons) may have been financially motivated.

They may have already made a better deal with Hulu. Now flush with Disney cash, Hulu may have been in a position to make an offer that no Kardashian could refuse. And so it was good-bye, NBCUniversal.

Their new show, titled simply “The Kardashians,” starts streaming on Hulu on April 14, only 10 months after their exit from E!

Meanwhile, Hulu’s “Futurama” announcement calls for 20 new episodes to be made of the animated comedy set 1,000 years in the future. 

The deal represents the third time that “Futurama” (pictured above) has returned with new episodes years after its first run on Fox from 1999-2003.

According to Hulu’s “Futurama” press release, the show first returned in 2007 with four direct-to-DVD movies that subsequently aired as 30-minute episodes on Viacom’s Comedy Central.

These new episodes were apparently so well-received that Comedy Central was inspired to order new seasons of the show that started running in 2010. In addition, “Futurama” repeats have been on TV for years.

Please note that “Futurama” is a production of 20^th Television Animation, which is now also owned by Disney.

It was part of the deal Disney made in 2019 to purchase a number of Fox assets, including 20th Television, FX and National Geographic. That was when Disney also assumed control of Hulu.

In a review of the new Hulu sitcom “How I Met Your Father” that was published here last month, the TV Blog wondered why this reboot of a very successful CBS sitcom -- “How I Met Your Father” -- ended up with Disney/Hulu and not ViacomCBS.

In retrospect, the answer might lie in the new financial clout Hulu seems to now possess, thanks to its Disney ownership.