Of all the films that got punted into limbo by the COVID-19 pandemic, few seemed to need the momentum of a big release push more desperately than Jason Reitman’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife, the film that dared to ask: Hey, remember Egon?
But while Finn Wolfhard’s confused face and Paul Rudd, Nostalgic Ghostbuster Nerd weren’t necessarily enough to spark the public’s imagination for a “real” Ghostbusters movie, i.e. one that drowned itself in the nostalgia of old Ghostbusters movies, instead of just letting four immensely funny comedians bust the shit out of some ghosts, Afterlife has now found its breakout star at last.
People, meet Muncher:
Now, if we’re going to get technical, Afterlife’s new tardigrade-looking Slimer wannabe has apparently been out in the ether (so to speak) for a few months now, ever since Hasbro previewed images for an upcoming Ghostbusters/Transformers (?) crossover toy project that included him alongside the real Slimer. Still, that brief glimpse hadn’t really prepared us for the Brando-esque expansiveness of this large, dead, blue failson. Muncher is vast. He contains multitudes. He looks like he smells like blueberry bubblegum and shit. Muncher is all of us.
Weirdly, our first real glimpse of Muncher came, not from any new trailer for Afterlife, but from a clip from Spain’s version of MasterChef Junior. As noted by SlashFilm, this is a pretty weird two minutes of TV, as talented child chefs get their Double Dare on for ingredients while Muncher (and the show’s equally dead-eyed hosts) look on.
The internet, having greedily burned through much of its stock of Bernie memes already, was, of course, delighted to make this jowly blueberry’s acquaintance, and began assembling their own responses to his cheerfully off-putting visage.
Anyway, we’re genuinely curious: Is this what Jason Reitman was talking about when he said Afterlife made his father Ivan break down crying with pride?
Ghostbusters: Afterlife is currently slated for a June 11, 2021 release. You’ll also soon be able to get the experience of sucking Muncher’s goo down your throat personally, courtesy of Muncher-branded Twinkies being offered by Hostess, who should probably stop looking at the memes now, please.