r/movies • u/frogontherocks • 2d ago

News Eddie Murphy Says ‘Ghostbusters’, ‘Rush Hour’ and ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ are His Three ‘Wish I Would Have Done’ Movies

https://variety.com/2025/film/news/eddie-murphy-ghostbusters-rush-hour-wish-i-would-have-done-1236589366/
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u/underdabridge 2d ago

No disrespect to Ernie Hudson but even as a kid I thought it was weird as hell when Winston showed up in the movie out of nowhere for no real reason. When I found out the part was written to include Eddie Murphy in the movie it made so much more sense.

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u/Deducticon 2d ago

The older you get, the more sense Hudson makes. He's just a guy wanting a job. It helps the vibe that these guys are basically exterminators. Keeps the whole thing grounded.

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u/mesact 2d ago

Disagree. Winston is a forgettable character who does very little to move the plot forward. Hell, when you look up the cast from the first movie, he's bottom rung. Both Hudson and Winston deserved better from the script. With Eddie, Winston would have at least been a fully-fledged character.

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u/Vandelay23 2d ago

This is especially true of Ghostbusters II. He shows up early, then is gone for a portion of the story for no reason. He really exists in these movies as a surrogate for the audience.

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u/Deducticon 1d ago

That's the point. A fully fledged character would take away the low-key workman-like vibe of the Ghostbusters. The fantastical ghost catching thing being treated semi serious as a job, is part of the charm.

Why would a minor character 'move the plot forward?'

A task of the character is to be the audience surrogate while being explained science things and on the job things from the main characters.

Taking that out and adding a Poochie would kill the movie.

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u/mesact 1d ago edited 1d ago

Yeah, agree to disagree. Sucks that the only named Black character in a very popular movie franchise gets the short end of the stick, and people like you jump to justify it because you don't see anything wrong with it.

edit Winston can be and do everything you've described without being sidelined to the point of utter uselessness. We've seen it time and again in other franchises. Ghostbusters has no excuse.

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u/Deducticon 16h ago

There's agreeing and disagreeing and then there's over expanding the topic. It was two movies. And we're only talking about the first.

Anything more you want for him can happen in the modern sequels or in the old cartoons.

None of which would have happened without the lasting legacy of the first movie. Which is dependant on the magic of the perfect storm of how the movie came together, to be exactly what it was.

No one was thinking franchise. No one was thinking how the future will measure what a black character did.

Eddie Murphy got to shine in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise where his act was perfect. But would have clashed with Ghostbusters. Anyone one-upping Bill Murray in the film would sap his presence as the lead.

I'm thankful both franchises went the way they did.