As it turns out, Marvel Studios newcomer Kathryn Newton may have had a slight influence on Bill Murray's decision to join the MCU in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania.
Murray is set to make his first appearance in the franchise in the upcoming threequel, playing "governor of Axia" Lord Krylar.
But the comedy legend is not the only MCU newcomer in the film. Kathryn Newton is also set to make her Marvel Studios debut, taking over the role of Cassie Lang from Avengers: Endgame actress Emma Fuhrmann.
Both Newton and Murray actually knew each other before joining Ant-Man 3, having golfed together on numerous occasions - golfing is even a hobby Murray takes quite seriously long after his performance in 1980 golf-centric comedy Caddyshack. And it is this relationship on the fairway that may have spurred Murray's interest in the franchise.
How Bill Murray Joined the MCU?
According to Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania actress Kathryn Newton, she is to thank for getting Bill Murray into the MCU threequel.
Speaking on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, the Cassie Lang actress told a story about Murray calling her up and saying "[he wanted] to join the Marvel Universe," actually asking her "if it was okay if [he were to join] Ant-Man:"
"A couple months later my mom's like, 'Kathryn, I have Bill Murray for you.' I'm like, what? Bill Murray? She's like, 'Yeah, um here.' And he's like, 'Kathryn, I've been thinking, I think I want to join the Marvel Universe and I was just going to ask you if it was okay if I joined 'Ant-Man'."
Newton responded with, "Yeah Bill, that's cool with me," but "maybe there's someone else to talk to."
She assumed Murray already had an offer on the table but was calling to ask if the two were "going to play golf together" while shooting, something the pair never got to do:
"But I think he had like an offer and he was just calling to be like, 'Are we going to play golf together?' Michael Douglas golfs as well. We didn't get to golf though because London was rainy and turns out Marvel movies are very intense and I didn't want to golf."
The Newton-Murray Marvel Connection
It is quite cool to see that Murray would reach out to a young actress like Newton and genuinely ask her thoughts on him hopping aboard the MCU train.
Murray is 47 years Newton's senior, yet the young actress seems to command the respect of one of Hollywood's biggest comedic legends.
With Murray's Lord Krylar being "a character from Janet Van Dyne's past," surely all of Team Ant-Man (including Newton's Cassie Lang) will get to interact with his MCU character.
As a result of this, it will be interesting to see if any of that on-the-course rapport shows up in the final film with any potential interactions between Newton and Murray's characters.
Murray is one of those names that fans have been begging to see join the Marvel Studios fray, especially with the actor teasing how "interested" he has been in the super-powered universe. And now it certainly seems like they have Kathryn Newton to thank for finally making it happen.
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania comes to theaters on Friday, February 17.
