In some news that will grab the attention of defenders of Marvel’s most notorious post-Avengers: Endgame movie (well, at least until Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania came along), two stars of Eternals are set to reunite on a sequel. Not a sequel to Eternals itself, you understand, but a follow-up to a different legendary film franchise that just received a surprisingly good relaunch. Namely, Ghostbusters.
As per Deadline, the as-yet-untitled sequel to 2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife has added four new members to its cast — Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, British comedian James Acaster, and Gossip Girl actress Emily Alyn Lind. Although they didn’t share the screen on that project, Nanjiani and Oswalt both appeared in the aforementioned superhero epic from director Chloe Zhao, in which they played Kingo and Pip the Troll, respectively.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife 2 will see the duo team up with two other MCU veterans, as both Paul Rudd and Carrie Coon are returning for this new film, with next-gen ‘busters McKenna Grace and Finn Wolfhard likewise expected to be on board. Jason Reitman is handing the reins over to Gil Kenan for this one, although Reitman will be exec producing and co-writing the script with Kenan.
Not much is known about the plot at this point, except that the action will relocate to the series’ traditional home of New York City — and the team’s iconic firehouse. This was previously teased in Afterlife‘s post-credits scene, which reintroduced Ernie Hudson’s Winston Zeddemore. Sony will be looking to make a quick turnaround with this sequel, as it’s currently slated to release as soon as this December.
That’s a much faster follow-through than Marvel’s treatment of Eternals, which released the very same month as Afterlife — Nov. 2021 — and has still yet to receive any kind of official sequel announcement. Their MCU franchise may be dead, but at least Nanjiani and Oswalt have found new life over in the Ghostbusters universe.