‘Ant-Man’ and ‘Eternals’ stars kick the Multiverse Saga curse to assemble in a whole other franchise

Over 30 movies and 16 years in, the MCU surely has the biggest cast of characters of any franchise ever, but there’s a sense following the failures of Phases Four and Five so far, that Marvel might be slimming down its universe.

For example, talk of sequels to the likes of Ant-Man 3 and Eternals stalled once those films released to, let’s say, less than positive receptions. Meanwhile, She-Hulk season 2 is almost definitely not happening and the chances of The Marvels producing Captain Marvel 3 seem smaller than Scott Lang.

Speaking of which, luckily for the stars of these frozen sub-franchises, there’s another shared universe out there that seems happy to take on those actors ill-treated by the MCU. In short, when ex-Marvel stars are in need of a job… Who they gonna call?

Ghostbusters: Afterlife trailer confirms it’s playing home to half a dozen of Marvel’s most unfortunate actors

At a time when family-friendly blockbusters aren’t the reliable cash-cows they used to be, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire could go either way for Sony when it releases this March 22. Whether it’s a good or bad sign that its cast is made up of actors who either escaped from poor-performing MCU movies or were criminally underused in popular ones remains to be seen.

Fresh off Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Paul Rudd is back to lead his first big-budget film since the threequel that landed with a thunk. Funnily enough, he’s sharing the screen once more with Bill Murray, who cameod in Quantumania as Krylar. The sequel’s trailer confirms that both Kumail Nanjiani and Patton Oswalt will get in on the ghost-catching action this time around, which may make up for the fact Marvel probably isn’t returning their calls to return as Eternals‘ Kingo and Pip the Troll.

Meanwhile, there’s Carrie Coon, one of those actors nobody remembers is part of the MCU thanks to her being wasted under unrecognizable CGI as Thanos’ lady lackey Proxima Midnight. As for the younger cast members, McKenna Grace was only allowed a brief few moments of screentime as a young Brie Larson in Captain Marvel and Celeste O’Connor features in Sony’s next Spider-Man-less spinoff that’s bound to spin out of control, Madame Web.

All in all, that makes a total of seven actors Marvel did dirty finally finding a more beneficial blockbuster home for themselves. Let’s hope the talented cast is rewarded this spring by Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire making Marvel movie. Uh, I mean pre-Endgame Marvel money, not post-Endgame Marvel money.

Just promise me, Sony, whatever happens, please don’t name the next film Ghostbusters: Ghostmania.