An instant contender for the year’s worst movie ironically falls into the MCU’s trap of substituting cameos for quality

A recurring trap the Marvel Cinematic Universe has fallen into over the years is distracting audiences from substandard content with a raft of big-name cameos to diver their attention, so it’s incredibly ironic that Chris Evans’ Ghosted has done much the same thing given his status as one of the franchise’s most prominent-ever stars.

The Apple TV action comedy has been taking a critical pounding ever since the review embargo lifted, with one of the major criticisms being the fact it doesn’t have a single original bone in its body. Evans and Ana de Armas generated plenty of chemistry in Knives Out, but they seemed to leave those sparks at the door whenever director Dexter Fletcher called action on his latest.

Just as the longtime Captain America promised, there are a couple of very familiar faces who swing by for MCU cameos, and if you don’t want the surprise to be ruined then you’d best stop reading beyond this point. While they might be surprise guests, it’s not exactly a shock when Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan show up given that they’re known for being two of Evans’ closest buddies, and there’s even a couple of meta in-jokes thrown around for fans of the superhero saga.

In the end, though, it doesn’t do a thing to cover up the fact that Ghosted is about as insipid and uninspired as the action comedy genre can get, and it’s easy to see why it ended up on a streaming service, because there’s a distinct chance it would have tanked at the box office otherwise. But look, people you know from that other thing you like!