Credit: Sony PicturesIt looks like one of the female Ghostbusters is gearing up to make a comeback in the Ghostbusters: Afterlife sequel…
Last year, Laura Summer, who voices secretary Janine Melnitz in popular ’80s cartoon The Real Ghostbusters (1986), recorded voice dialogue for a fan-made trailer for asymmetrical video game Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed (2022), which was released last October.
While Annie Potts returned to play her version of Janine Melnitz in Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021), fans are yet to see Summer reprise her role as the fiery secretary from the cartoon series. And on that note, the animated side of the Ghostbusters universe is far from dead.
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Along with Ghostbusters 4 (2023), which releases in theaters this December, there are also two animated projects in development over with Sony Pictures Animation and Netflix — a Ghostbusters animated series, and a Ghostbusters animated film.
However, these installments are not expected to follow on from The Real Ghostbusters, or the follow-up cartoon Extreme Ghostbusters (1997), which means that it’s unlikely we’ll see Laura Summers back in the fold on this side of the franchise.
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With that said, it is possible we’ll see her back in the Ghostbusters universe on the gaming side of things.
Last week, on Valentine’s Day (yes, Valentine’s Day — bummer), Summer took to Instagram to tease her potential future involvement with Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed. Before we take a look at Summer’s post, check out the fan-made trailer below:
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Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed is an asymmetrical multiplayer game which allows players to become either a Ghostbuster or one of the ghosts themselves. Picking up where the 2021 film left off, the game is a Ghostbusters: Afterlife sequel in its own right.
While the trailer is fan-made, recently, the game did get a free The Real Ghostbusters-themed DLC (downloadable content) which features aspects of Janine Melnitz’s character within the character customization part of the game, including her iconic hair and glasses.
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After lending her voice to the trailer, Summers has since teased her character’s return again, by sharing a picture on Instagram of a Janine Melnitz action figure sat in front of a computer screen with the word “Illfonic” on it — the game’s developer.
It’s not unusual for Ghostbusters actors to reprise their roles in video games. Ghostbusters: The Video Game (2009) saw Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, and Ernie Hudson all reprise their roles as Peter Venkman, Egon Spengler, Ray Stantz, and Winston Zeddemore.
Even Annie Potts, who plays Janine Melnitz in the films, made a comeback. The actress has also since appeared in the 2016 reboot Ghostbusters: Answer the Call (2016) as a different character.
And more recently, Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson reprised their roles in Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed. Hudson is also expected to return in the upcoming virtual reality game Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord (2023).
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Whether or not Summers will return in a new Spirits Unleashed DLC remains to be seen, but recently, the game did get an all-new “story mode” that revolves around Tobin’s Spirit Guide, a powerful book about the supernatural that appears throughout the game.
In a recent interview with Ghostbusters News, Illfonic Chief Creative Officer Jared Gerritzen and Design Director Jordan Mathewson also teased that there’s a lot more to come from the game in terms of DLCs.
Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed is out now. Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord is expected some time this year.
The untitled Ghostbusters: Afterlife sequel will be released on December 20, 2023.
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Have you played Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!