Photos of some new Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire theatre standees recently began to find their way online, so Sony Pictures has used the opportunity to share an official look, confirming the return of one of the franchise's most well-loved and recognizable ghosts in the process.
Yes, everyone's favorite focused non-terminal repeating phantasm, or Class 5 Full Roaming Vapor, Slimer, will be back for the upcoming Afterlife sequel.
The gluttonous green ghost debuted in the original Ghostbusters (when he was simply known as "Onionhead") and showed up briefly in the sequel, but didn't really come into his own as a fully formed character until The Real Ghostbusters animated series.
There were rumors that Slimer was going to feature in Afterlife, but aside from a few nods (Muncher was clearly inspired by the "ugly little spud"), he was nowhere to be seen.
Director Jason Reitman explained why they decided not to bring Slimer back shortly after the movie's release.
“You know, the movie takes place in Oklahoma. And see, we wanted to work with ghosts that were going to be native to the actual area, really for us, it was just, you know, every culture has their own ghost stories, and we want to see all of them. And this is a story that takes place in Summerville, Oklahoma.”
From the looks of the standee, Slimer may follow in the footsteps ectoplasm trails of his animated counterpart and become the team's mascot in Frozen Empire.
During a recent interview, new cast member Kumail Nanjiani (Eternals) indicated that the movie will up the ante somewhat when it comes to genuine frights.
“There’s some really, genuinely scary stuff. The scary stuff is actually scary," said the actor. "The danger is very real and the stakes are very high. That makes the comedy even funnier,” adding that, “Everybody gets to be funny.”
The recent teaser trailer (see below) highlighted returning spook-hunters Ray (Dan Aykroyd), Peter (Billy Murray) and Winston (Ernie Hudson) in their old school uniforms, as well as an all-new team consisting of Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd), Callie Spengler (Carrie Coon), and her kids Trevor (Finn Wolfhard), and Phoebe (McKenna Grace) sporting upgraded outfits.
The first set photos were shared online back in April (click here to have a look), and they featured Hudson alongside Rudd, and another actor from the '80s classic, William Atherton as "dickless" Environmental Protection Agency officer Walter Peck, who will evidently be sticking his nose in to the Ghostbusters' business yet again.
"In Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the Spengler family decide to leave Summerville, Oklahoma and go back to where it all started – the iconic New York City firehouse – and help the original Ghostbusters, who've developed a top-secret research lab to take busting ghosts to the next level! But when the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes a mysterious and evil force, known as the Death Chill, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a deadly and unpredictable fate that unknowingly, could affect earth’s history with a second Ice Age."
Directed by Gil Kenan (Jason Reitman co-wrote the movie and is on board as an executive producer), Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is set to scare its way into theatres next March.