Ghostbusters: Afterlife's Carrie Coon Had A Maternal Affection For Muncher

While the comedy and big-name actors have certainly helped make the "Ghostbusters" franchise a success, audiences also flock to these paranormal flicks for the ghosts and ghouls. 2021's "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" was fully aware of this, hence why the long-awaited threequel brought numerous new ones to the silver screen. Among the most notable is Muncher (Josh Gad): a round blue ghost with a hunger for all things metal. Despite his odd eating habits and unusual appearance, Carrie Coon — the actress behind Callie Spengler — unexpectedly felt a maternal sense of affection for the creature.

"I had this weird tenderness for Muncher because I have a newborn that reminds me of Muncher," Coon said with a laugh during a November 2021 interview with Nightmarish Conjurings. She recalled seeing Mucher's face for the first time and couldn't help but feel that it resembled her then-13-week-old baby. Coon fully anticipates that someday her daughter will stumble upon this interview and require therapy after reading her mother's comments. Time will tell just how scarring her child will find these comparisons to Muncher, though it stands to reason she won't be the happiest about them.

In "Ghostbusters: Afterlife," Muncher turns out to be little more than a nuisance for the heroes, but how does the "Ghostbusters" fanbase feel about the franchise newcomer?

Naturally, in the time since "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" premiered and Muncher made his Hollywood debut, the "Ghostbusters" subreddit has seen plenty of conversation about the metal-eating ghost. While he does have his fair share of detractors — largely due to many writing him off as a second-rate Slimer, who became a "Ghostbusters" icon back in the 1980s — Carrie Coon is far from his only fan. Quite a few folks in a Reddit thread by a now-deleted user came together to voice how much they like the mischievous little guy.

"He's cute in a ugly sort of way," commented u/psyniac_123, with others making playful comments about his Tardigrade-like appearance. u/SandLobster added, "I really liked Muncher, also was (unsurprisingly) my son's favorite part. Makes sense the Slimer scene in the original was my favorite when I was his age." A few other Redditors drew Slimer comparisons, but not in a demeaning way. For example, u/bigtaterman would love to see the two interact and even go at it in an over-the-top ghostly brawl.

With a follow-up to "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" on the way, it stands to reason that fans will get to see more of Muncher on the big screen. Hopefully, since she has signed on to return to the role of Callie Spengler, Carrie Coon will get a chance to reunite with her very hungry "child."