Only Murders in the Building Creator Teases Paul Rudd’s Role in Season 3: “We’ve Got Some Surprises Planned”

Warning: this story contains spoilers for the Only Murders in the Building Season 2 finale, “I Know Who Did It.” Only Murders on… Broadway? After true crime podcasters Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short), and Mabel (Selena Gomez) solved the murder of Arconia building board president Bunny Folger (Jayne Houdyshell) during a killer reveal party, the trio went a whole year without a murder. But in a season-ending twist, the time jump revealed another victim: aggrieved actor Ben Gilroy (Paul Rudd in a surprise cameo), who suspiciously dies on stage after a hushed backstage exchange with Charles: “Stay away from her. Ben, I know what you did.” 

In setting up Charles, Oliver, and Mabel’s third murder mystery, Only Murders added Rudd to the cast for Season 3 of the Hulu whodunnit. 

“Well, hang tight,” executive producer John Hoffman, who co-created the series with Martin, told EW when asked about the size of Rudd’s role in Only Murders‘ third season. “But yeah, the hope is, as much as we can have him, we’ll take him. He’s so great. We’ve got some surprises planned.” 

After proving their innocence in the death of Bunny — the trio was framed by podcaster Cinda Canning’s (Tina Fey) mousey but ambitious assistant, Poppy (Adina Verson), who was working with “Glitter Guy”/corrupt cop Kreps (Michael Rapaport) — all seemed well when Oliver staged his Broadway directorial comeback. And in Season 3, Oliver will take the lead role, so to speak, with the mystery revolving around Ben’s show-stopping murder.

“I will only tease further to say what’s coming is so crazy and delightful. I’m thrilled about where we are in Season 3,” Hoffman said. “We’re four weeks in now in the writers’ room, and I think we’re swinging better than ever. It’s a great, well-oiled machine and a great room that feels constantly inspired by this cast and New York City and the bit of the theatrics ahead. I am a kid raised in the school of the theater, so leaning into the theatrical, leaning into Oliver’s sensibilities, dancing in that territory feels really exciting, and we are not going to be shy about it.”

Hoffman continued, “It’s going to feel differently because there’s an innate sense around our title, and our characters, and that trio is magic. How to freshen that up and progress them individually but also to pull them back together, and the ways in which they’ve been out of touch, and the ways in which they have found more conflict, potentially, in the last year that we traverse, there’s a lot of great stuff. We reset them a little bit, reset their world, and yet the Arconia is still very present in Season 3. What could have happened in that year? Who could have come into their lives? What do their lives look like now? We have a fresh start because we don’t know everyone who could be involved potentially, and we can get to play with that.”

All episodes of Only Murders in the Building Season 1 and 2 are now available to stream on Hulu.