‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ Repeats 2016 Reboot’s Mistake in New Teaser

in Movies & TV

Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones) screaming in Ghostbusters: Answer the Call

Credit: Sony Pictures

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024) is a few weeks away, and Sony is wasting no time releasing all sorts of marketing from its vault, from trailers to toy lines, and teasers to tidbits.

Also making their way out of the Ecto Containment Unit are several new ghosts. The film’s main antagonist is a horned entity named Garraka, but there are other new spooks such as the Sewer Dragon and Pukey, while franchise mascot Slimer is also back in the fold.

No stranger to all things supernatural, the Ghostbusters franchise has featured some truly bizarre slime-soaked monstrosities since the first film in 1984. Anthropomorphic marshmallow men posing as sailors, horned hellhounds with a penchant for refrigerators, Sumerian demigods with Ziggy Stardust-inspired flat-tops, sentient oil paintings with bad attitudes, and anything else you can think of that’s straight up weird.

Olivia Wilde as Gozer in 'Ghostbusters: Afterlife'
Credit: Sony Pictures

Related: ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ May Have Recast a Fan-Favorite Character

So it stands to reason that future films in the series shouldn’t stray from all things strange in the neighborhood. That said, there’s a grit in those first two films that have been lost in the two recent instalments, Ghostbusters: Answer the Call (2016) and Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021), with each of them opting for the zanier side of the franchise’s otherworldly beings.

And the upcoming sequel Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is no exception. Director/writer Gil Kenan and writer/producer Jason Reitman have already admitted that the film is taking a page out of the popular animated series The Real Ghostbusters (1986 — 1991), but a new featurette titled “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire — Meet the Ghosts” gives us a closer look at the film’s new villains than any of the three trailers, and, well, it don’t look good.

Muncher the ghost in 'Ghostbusters: Afterlife'
Credit: Sony Pictures

Related: First Part of ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ Revealed

In the video, Frozen Empire‘s cast members Paul Rudd (Gary Grooberson), Kumail Nanjiani (Nadeem Razmaadi), Logan Kim (Podcast), Celeste O’Conner (Lucky Domingo), McKenna Grace (Phoebe Spengler), Carrie Coon (Callie Spengler), and Patton Oswalt (Hubert Wartzki) discuss the sequel’s new lineup of slimy foes. Check it out below:

Related: The 2016 ‘Ghostbusters’ Reboot May Be 100% Canon, After All

One of the many criticisms of the reviled 2016 reboot was its ghosts, which fans compared to the creatures from the live-action Scooby-Doo! movie, describing them as looking far too “fluorescent” and “cartoonish” for Ghostbusters. While this may sound somewhat hypocritical considering the franchise is teeming with outlandish entities, what fans were really complaining about was the lack of the gritty practical effects from the original films.

While Frozen Empire‘s ghosts don’t look anywhere near as “glow-in-the-dark” or as “clean” as the ones from Answer the Call, it still looks like the film may have taken a bit too much inspiration from the 1986 cartoon series, which, while brilliant in its own right, is worlds apart from its cinematic counterparts (and yes, that’s saying something).

The Sewer Dragon looks like it would fit in well with the ethereal residents of Paul Feig’s 2016 remake, while Pukey looks like a potato that vomits slime.

Slimer eating hotdogs in 'Ghostbusters: Answer the Call'
Credit: Sony Pictures

Related: All 13 Ghostbuster Characters (Including a Guest of Honor!) Ranked Worst to Best

With all that said, Frozen Empire‘s main villain Garraka, a tall horned beast that plunges New York City into a “second Ice Age,” looks like he’ll give moviegoers the chills.

And with Slimer and the terrifying Librarian Ghost back on board, here’s to hoping the film doesn’t deviate too much from the grit that allowed those first two films to walk a fine line between comedy and, at times, genuine terror.

Check out the brand-new domestic trailer for Frozen Empire below, per Sony Pictures:

Related: ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ Trailer Breakdown

Per the official website, here’s the synopsis for the film:

In Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the Spengler family returns to where it all started – the iconic New York City firehouse – to team up with 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 an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second Ice Age.

Frozen Empire stars Carrie Coon (Callie Spengler), Paul Rudd (Gary Grooberson), McKenna Grace (Phoebe Spengler), Finn Wolfhard (Trevor Spengler), Celeste O’Connor (Lucky Domingo), Logan Kim (Podcast), Dan Aykroyd (Ray Stantz), Annie Potts (Janine Melnitz), William Atherton (Walter Peck), Ernie Hudson (Winston Zeddemore), Bill Murray (Peter Venkman), James Acaster (Lars Pinfield), Patton Oswalt (Dr. Hubert Wartzki), Kumail Nanjiani (Nadeem Razmaadi), and Emily Alyn Lind in an undisclosed role.

The film will be released in theaters on March 22, 2024.

An upcoming four-issue comic book series titled Ghostbusters: Back in Town (2024) that bridges the gap between Afterlife and Frozen Empire will be released on March 27, 2024.

Would you prefer more “realistic” ghosts in a Ghostbusters movie? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!

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