Ghostbusters: Afterlife has defied critics' expectations to be a huge hit since its release last week, delivering a Ghostbusters movie that fans of the franchise have waited over 30 years for. Bringing together a new set of characters, the legacy of the 1984 movie and the original Ghostbusting team, the combination has proved irresistible for those who have been glad to bust the memory of the 2016 reboot, which could have been a well-received movie in its own right if it had not attempted to cash in on the Ghostbusters name, and the question now is (WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD), will there be another sequel following those post-credit scenes? Ernie Hudson would like to think so and could see the old team mentoring a new group of Busters.

For anyone who is an avid fan of the franchise, it has been well documented that Hudson’s character of Winston Zeddemore was supposed to have a much bigger role in the 1984 movie until a script change meant that many of his early lines were instead taken over by the other members of the team and he didn’t make an appearance until after the first ghosts had been busted. When it comes to Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Jason Reitman seems to have gone some way to rectifying that miscarriage of justice for the character by setting him up as the potential guardian of the Ghostbusters legacy in the second post-credit scene.

“It’s almost comforting,” Hudson said in an interview with Yahoo. “This movie has been such a big part of my life for almost 40 years. It’s something I’ve never been able to get away from — not that I’ve tried — but the fans have always kept Winston at the forefront and really connected to him. To be on the set and to see the guys in the jumpsuits, Sigourney Weaver, Annie Potts and to meet this new cast, I realized this is something that’s going to move into the future. It’s nice to have it finally resolved.”

Talking about how his role in the 1984 movie was set behind the three big name comedy stars, Ernie Hudson continued, “I’ve had several conversations with Ivan about it and his recollection is very different to mine. Now that I’m older, I understand the studio wanted to make sure the guys they’d invested a lot of money into had things to play with, so all of my best bits were given to other people. But for me as an actor, it was really devastating. Winston had all this military training. He was the sensible guy who held things together. When the script changed, it was an... adjustment. Bill, Dan and Harold were so inviting and welcoming but, while I don’t know this for a fact, it felt like the studio always wanted to make sure it was the three guys on the posters. It was the fans who really embraced Winston and I’ve talked to a few people at the studio who felt almost a little surprised by that. I credit the fans for forcing me to take another look at Ghostbusters.”

When it comes to a fourth movie, Hudson believes that a new film is being written and although he is not sure that the original cast could be “major players,” there are ways that could work. “Clearly it’s a new family’s movie so I don’t know if any of the old Ghostbusters can be major players - but being involved as mentors in some way would be a lot of fun. [Winston] certainly seems set up to be a part of it. He understands the Ghostbusters better than anyone. He’s almost like Sam Jackson’s character [Nick Fury] in the Marvel Universe. Whatever comes out of it, I’d love to see Winston connected to it.”

Ghostbusters: Afterlife is playing now exclusively in theaters.