The new Chris Evans movie Ghosted will be available to watch on April 21 on AppleTV+, and it could make up for the many wasted opportunities of The Gray Man. The Gray Man was one of Netflix’s 2022 tentpole movies, with a star-studded cast including Evans, Ana de Armas, and Ryan Gosling, and a huge budget of $200 million. It was full of giant set pieces and action sequences directed by the Russo brothers. The Gray Man was watched by millions of Netflix subscribers, and the movie’s huge success has encouraged the streamer to develop several sequels and spin-offs.
Unfortunately, while The Gray Man is Netflix’s biggest movie, the film was negatively reviewed, as the action sequences were criticized for being uninspired, and it didn’t make much use of its bankable all-star cast. Evans was praised for hamming it up as villain Lloyd Hansen, but not much else worked. However, the upcoming AppleTV+ movie, Ghosted, could make up for The Gray Man’s shortcomings. Ghosted’s trailer has influenced many comparisons to the Netflix movie, as it’s full of globetrotting action, shares the same actors, and even has exact same set pieces. But that means that Ghosted could be the movie that Netflix failed to deliver.
6 Ghosted Will Have Superior Action Sequences Than The Gray Man
While the action in these types of action rom-coms tends to be serviceable at best, Ghosted’s action looks colorful and thrilling, whether its shootouts in London warehouses or car chases through jungle locations. Ghosted was directed by Dexter Fletcher, and while it might be his first action movie, Fletcher’s work on Rocketman weirdly makes him a great choice to helm an exciting action flick. Rocketman was filled with colorful and fantastical sequences that were logistically difficult to pull off, and that skill can be applied to the action genre. As a result, Ghosted looks like a perfect blend of both action and romantic comedy.
The Gray Man’s action sequences were full of drone shots, shaky cam, and quick cuts, so it was hard to even tell what was going on at any given time, especially as the scenes cut between three different characters and locations. Ghosted, on the other hand, has the potential to be the first great action movie exclusive to streaming services. Though The Gray Man might have been a hit if it had been theatrically released, there’s yet to be a streaming-exclusive action movie that’s been both overwhelmingly positively received by critics and resoundingly successful with subscribers.
5 Ghosted Will Be A Better Globetrotting Affair Than The Gray Man
The Gray Man travels all over the world, with huge sequences set in Bangkok, Vienna, Budapest, and other locales. However, despite the exotic locations, The Gray Man still had a surprisingly drab color palette and was as colorless as the movie’s title suggests. Even the CGI fireworks in the opening sequence didn’t have the pizazz the Russos were going for. But Ghosted has a similarly globetrotting narrative, and the trailer features action-packed sequences in London, a jungle, and a desert location. These destinations are so vivid and pop in a way that the sequences in Budapest or Vienna should have in The Gray Man.
4 Ghosted Will Be A Better Knives Out Reunion Than The Gray Man
Evans and de Armas first worked together on Knives Out, playing Marta and Ransom, and the two actors had incredible on-screen chemistry and they clearly worked great together. The Gray Man totally failed to capitalize on the amazing chemistry that Evans and de Armas had in Knives Out. The two actors barely even have any screen time time together, which is such a wasted opportunity given how they both have main roles in the 2022 movie. Ghosted can finally deliver on that chemistry, as the whole film features the two actors being in love, bickering, and getting into shootouts together.
3 Ghosted Can Finally Be Ana De Armas’s Great Action Movie That’s Been Teased So Much
In No Time to Die, Armas proved how cool and badass of an action hero she can be, as she momentarily stole the show from James Bond as Paloma. Since then, many Armas-related action projects have been rumored and teased, including a No Time to Die spin-off movie. The Gray Man once again missed the mark, and while Armas was literally running around carrying a rocket launcher at one point, it was in no way the satisfying action vehicle that Armas deserved. However, Ghosted subverts the genre, as it sees Armas as the superassassin instead of the male character, and it could be the role that No Time to Die teed up.
2 Ghosted Has A Better Plane Action Sequence Than The Gray Man
While there are so many unbelievable parallels between Ghosted and The Gray Man, the most oddly specific is an action sequence involving jumping out of a plane. The Gray Man featured Six (Gosling) taking down several henchmen in a cargo plane before jumping out. However, The Gray Man’s plane sequence might have been the most criticized moment in the film, as the camera was uncontrollably shaky and the CGI was at its worst. But Ghosted could rectify that, as the movie’s trailer teases a strikingly similar scene that looks much cleaner.
1 The Deadpool Writers Are Behind Ghosted’s Comedy
Though The Gray Man isn’t an outright comedy, it was still full of humor and one-liners that didn’t quite land. Evans was praised for his hammy and camp approach the maniacal and sadistic Lloyd Hansen, but outside of that the comedy fell flat. The movie was written by screenwriting duo Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, who is best known for writing several MCU movies. Though the collaborators have written some of the best movies in the franchise, they’re also responsible for some of the MCU’s cringiest one-liners. That led to just as cringey Gray Man dialogue like, “Who are you, my fairy godmother? No offense, I thought you’d look different.“
Though Ghosted’s trailer doesn’t give much away in terms of the quality of its writing, the duo who helmed the screenplay penned some of the funniest action movies of the 2010s. Ghosted was co-written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, who also wrote the first two Deadpool movies and the upcoming Deadpool 3. Even though not much is known about the upcoming AppleTV+ movie, these names attached to the film alone are more than promising, and Ghosted will undoubtedly be full of irreverent humor. However, ironically, Netflix is taking a page out of Ghosted’s book, as the Deadpool writers are developing a Gray Man spin-off too.