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.
Paul Rudd’s characters on Only Murders in the Building might die, but at this point, we can almost always count on the actor returning in some way, shape or form. This season, he came back to voice the Arconia’s robot doorman L.E.S.T.R. So, while he can’t be seen in the season airing on the 2025 TV schedule, he can be heard. However, before the team landed on that idea, they floated a bunch of other ways for the actor to make his way back into the building, and co-creator John Hoffman told me about one of the wilder ideas they had.
Now, working Rudd into Season 5 of Only Murders was no easy task. Hoffman told me that “every time” they talked about it, it’d result in him saying “No, we can’t do that. We’re going to kill the show. We’re jumping the shark. It’s not going to happen.” However, that didn’t stop them from thinking up silly ideas, and the co-creator shared one of those with me. He explained:
There was a moment where there was going to [be] like [a] very much Star Wars-y Princess Leia-like thing within the robot that showed some setup that Christoph [Waltz's character] had a connection between him and the actor Ben Glenroy. Because Ben Glenroy had figured out some key to longevity and looking good as you get older that he was wanting to pull [from]. And then within that moment, they get into a terrible fight. And you're watching this fight between Ben Glenroy and [Christoph’s character].
For a bit of context, Christoph Waltz plays the billionaire Bash Steed, whose age is a mystery and whose methods of being ageless are unknown and for sure creepy. So, it’d track that he’d go to great (and silly) lengths to maintain a look that makes it seem like he could be immortal.
Considering Paul Rudd is ageless, having him return as his original Only Murders character from Season 3, Ben Glenroy, would have been hilarious. It would have been a meta commentary on the discourse surrounding his age, and it would be a funny way to incorporate him back into the show.
However, ultimately, that was a no-go, as Hoffman told me:
[So I was like] ‘Okay, this is very funny, and it's a funny joke for the Paul Rudd of it all being like the man who never ages.’ But then I thought, ‘It's a sideshow. I have to hang on to the important themes of our season and everything else.’
You know, I get it. They need to keep the story on the murders of Lester and Nicky, and this could have been a distracting subplot. However, I still would have loved to see it. Thankfully, though, they did ultimately work Rudd into the show in a hilarious, fitting and natural way that also managed to pay homage to his other appearances on the Hulu hit.
They paid homage, of course, by killing Rudd’s character again. In Season 3, Ben Glenroy was the murder victim of the season. In Season 4, his stunt double Glen Stubbins died. And in Season 5, L.E.S.T.R. was thrown off a building, effectively being killed. However, a new robot was quickly brought on, meaning Rudd was back…again.
While I adore this entire plot point and can’t wait to see Rudd’s robot on the show, I can’t help but fantasize about the wild idea the show’s creator told me about. However, if I’ve learned anything from Paul Rudd and this show, he will come back, and maybe next time it will be as Ben Glenroy, who is set on explaining his key to being ageless.
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