The Absolutely Wild Idea Only Murders In The Building Had For Bringing Paul Rudd Back In Season 5 Before They Decided To Have Him Voice The Robot

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Spoilers for Season 5 of Only Murders in the Building are ahead! Read with caution, and stream new episodes every Tuesday with a Hulu subscription.

Even though Paul Rudd’s characters on Only Murders in the Building sometimes meet their end, we’ve learned to expect him to reappear in some capacity. This season, he returned as the voice of L.E.S.T.R., the robot doorman of the Arconia. So, while you won’t see him on screen in the upcoming season scheduled for 2025, you’ll definitely hear him. But before they settled on that solution, the team considered a lot of different ways to bring the actor back into the show, and co-creator John Hoffman shared one particularly unusual idea with me.

Bringing Paul Rudd into Season 5 of Only Murders presented a real challenge. Hoffman told me that “every time” they discussed it, his immediate reaction was “No, we can’t do that. We’re going to ruin the show. It’ll feel forced and over the top. It’s just not going to work.” Despite this initial resistance, they still brainstormed some outlandish ideas, and the co-creator shared one of those with me. He explained:

There was a planned scene involving a Star Wars-inspired Princess Leia-like element within the robot, revealing a connection between the robot’s setup and Christoph [Waltz’s character]. This connection stemmed from Ben Glenroy discovering a secret to staying youthful, which he was trying to obtain. However, this revelation led to a very intense fight between Ben Glenroy and [Christoph’s character]. You witness this terrible fight unfold between the two.

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Just to give you some background, Christoph Waltz portrays Bash Steed, a billionaire whose age is never revealed and whose secrets to staying young are unsettling. Therefore, it makes sense that he would go to extreme (and rather ridiculous) measures to appear eternally youthful.

Given that Paul Rudd seems to never age, it would have been really funny to bring him back as Ben Glenroy – the character he played in Season 3 of Only Murders in the Building. It would have been a clever, self-aware nod to all the talk about his age, and a humorous way to reintroduce him to the series.

However, ultimately, that was a no-go, as Hoffman told me:

[I thought to myself], ‘This is really funny, especially considering Paul Rudd’s reputation for seemingly never aging.’ However, I quickly realized it was just a distraction. I needed to stay focused on the core messages and overall direction of our season.

I understand why they chose not to pursue that storyline – keeping the focus on the murders of Lester and Nicky was important, and it could have been a diversion. Still, I would have enjoyed seeing it. Fortunately, they *did* manage to include Rudd in a way that was funny, appropriate, and felt seamless, while also cleverly referencing his previous work on the Hulu series.

The show continued its tradition of paying tribute by killing off Paul Rudd’s character repeatedly. In Season 3, Ben Glenroy was the victim. Season 4 saw the death of his stunt double, Glen Stubbins. And in Season 5, L.E.S.T.R. was thrown from a building, essentially ending his life. But a replacement robot was quickly introduced, bringing Rudd back…yet again.

I absolutely love this storyline, and I’m so excited to see Paul Rudd’s robot appear on the show! But honestly, I can’t stop thinking about this crazy idea the creator shared with me. Still, I’ve learned from both Paul Rudd and this series that things have a way of working out, and I’m betting he’ll be back – maybe even as Ben Glenroy, ready to reveal the secret to his seemingly ageless existence. I’m really hoping to see that happen! It would be amazing.

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2025-09-30 22:39