SPOILERS for Only Murders in the Building season 2. Consider yourself warned. Hulu’s murder-mystery comedy series has proven to be a big hit for the streaming service, and the upcoming third season has tapped a major star. Deadline has reported that Paul Rudd (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania) has joined the cast of Only Murders in the Building season 3.
Only Murders in the Building was created by Steve Martin, Dan Fogelman, and John Hoffman. The first season followed three strangers (Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez) who share an obsession with true crime and suddenly find themselves wrapped up in one when a grisly death occurs inside their exclusive Upper West Side apartment building.
If you’ve already watched the finale of Only Murders in the Building season 2, you’ll know that Paul Rudd made a surprise appearance. The actor played Ben Glenroy, the lead actor in Oliver Putnam’s (Martin Short) Broadway play who falls dead just as the curtains rise. It seems that his murder will be the focus of the new season. While speaking with Deadline, Only Murders in the Building co-creator John Hoffman reveals how Paul Rudd came to be involved.
“We’re all fans of his. But also, Paul has a pretty close relationship with Martin Short and he also made a film with Selena [Gomez], and she adores him,” Hoffman explained. “But the kicker is that Paul has revered Steve Martin since he was a kid, so all of these things came together for this very big ask,” Hoffman shared. “We were saying, is there any world where a major movie star could come and do this five minutes for our season finale? But more importantly, when we come around to shooting Season 3, many, many months from now, would he be available because he’s now a certain kind of victim within our show? We need to have time with him; would he come back and play with us in Season 3? God love Paul Rudd because he immediately said yes.” Paul Rudd’s character also had an unusual encounter with Charles-Haden Savage before dropping dead, but that will be part of the mystery of the new season.
The tease there that is teed up between Charles and Ben is what we’re going to reveal in Season 3. There is very sort of pointed things that Charles is saying to Ben. It’s clear that there’s huge tension between these two actors for their Broadway opening and the source of that will be revealed in Season 3. There are things being said by Charles like, ‘I know what you did,’ and ‘Stay away from her.’ All of that is a tee-up to where we’re going next season. If there’s one thing to hold onto here is ‘her identity.’
The first two seasons of Only Murders in the Building are now streaming on Hulu, and Paul Rudd will be seen starring in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania on February 17, 2023.