Fans of The Simpsons will find this news nothing short of ‘excellent’.

Harry Shearer, the voice of Mr Burns, Ned Flanders and many others, has reportedly reversed his decision to leave the long-running cartoon.

In May, Shearer, who has voiced more than fifty Simpsons characters since its inception in 1989, reportedly declined a million-dollar offer to continue working on the hugely popular cartoon.

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But this week Entertainment Weekly reported that Shearer had signed a four-season contract, preventing a breakup of the main cast.

Harry Shearer, the voice of Mr Burns, could return. Photo: Getty

It said the deal was worth the equivalent of just over $400,000 per episode for stars Shearer, Dan Castellaneta, Yeardley Smith, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, and Hank Azaria.

It means characters including Ned Flanders, Principal Skinner, Kent Brockman and Waylon Smithers – all voiced by Shearer – will continue to feature in new episodes.

The show has recently been renewed by Fox for a 27th and 28th season, which would take its tally of episodes well above 600.

Rumours that Shearer was going to leave the show were ignited on social media in May.

But show creator, James L Brooks, confirmed that even though negotiations for a 27th season had broken down, he held out hope for the actor’s return.

Hey, we tried. We’re still trying. Harry, no kidding, let’s talk.

— james l. brooks (@canyonjim) May 14, 2015

In order for the Simpsons producers to remain on schedule, they commenced production on season 27 without him.

They already had seven holdover episodes from last season in the can, which included Shearer’s voices.