Paul Rudd and Carrie Coon Speculate on How Ant-Man Might Capture Ghosts

Who ya gonna call? Paul Rudd, wearing a red jumpsuit, standing at the center of a group of stars including Bill Murray on a crowded movie poster. Of cousre, that isn’t actually all that much more clear, given that it could describe both Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire and Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania. All joking aside, it’s inevitable that when the same guy is headlining two massive franchises, fans are going to lean into it and think about how much fun some kind of crossover could be. So, what would it be like to put Marvel’s Scott Lang into the world of Ghostbusters?

During the press tour for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, ComicBook.com asked Carrie Coon and Paul Rudd how they thought Ant-Man would tackle ghosts. Instead of a jokey answer, they both gave something that was practical and thematic, giving a sense for what such a story might actually look like.

“He’d probably build something,” Coon said. “Ants are so resourceful.”

“And call in the help of a few friends,” Rudd added, “becuase I don’t know if he’s got that kind of capability.”

Lest you think he’s talking about Doctor Strange or other magical Avengers, though, Rudd added, “He’d probably have to employ some ants, because they can do everything.”

As serious as they got about it was when the pair said that asking for help could be its own super power, and that they could build a story around working as a unit — a colony, if you will — to get the job done.

Frozen Empire has been described as a clean slate for the franchise, allowing them to move forward in a way Afterlife couldn’t, because they had to address both the long absence of the Ghostbusters in-universe, and also the passing of Egon Spengler, whose family is a key part of the new generation of Ghostbusters.

When Ghostbusters: Afterlife was being promoted, filmmakers tried to keep it secret that Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Ernie Hudson would not only return, but would strap on their proton packs one more time. With Frozen Empire, each of the three appear in the trailer, leaving a lot less room for speculation. Hudson, meanwhile, is staying pretty busy with the the fan-favorite NBC revival of Quantum Leap.

In Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the Spengler family returns to where it all started – the iconic New York City firehouse – to team up with the original Ghostbusters, who’ve developed a top-secret research lab to take busting ghosts to the next level. But when the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second Ice Age.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire stars Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Logan Kim, Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, Celeste O’Connor, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Bill Murray, Annie Potts, James Acaster, and Emily Alyn Lind. 

The movie hits theaters on Friday.