Rick Moranis returning in Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Frozen Empire could have made the sequels even better. h4s55

The Ghostbusters: Afterlife cast introduces new characters and brings back some familiar faces, with both coming together to create a fitting renewal of the beloved Ghostbusters franchise. Directed by Jason Reitman, who steps into his father Ivan Reitman’s shoes to helm the latest franchise installment, Ghostbusters: Afterlife was a reboot and sequel to the original movie which both features a new generation of Ghostbusters while also heavily paying homage to the original movie. This leads to a Ghostbusters: Afterlife cast filled with new faces as well as many crowd-pleasing cameos.

The Ghostbusters franchise is still expanding, with each new movie release making it more extensive to rank the Ghostbusters movies from worst to best. The supernatural comedy series launched in 1984 under the creation of Ivan Reitman, Harold Ramis, and Dan Aykroyd. The original Ghostbusters proved to not only be an excellent blockbuster, but it ignited widespread fandom for the ghost-hunting team, so much so that it could become a massive movie franchise for Hollywood to continue to develop. This was immediately seen with the development of Ghostbusters II, even if the franchise took a hiatus after.

VFX artists have nothing but praise for the most controversial part of Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Rather than a reboot, the 2021 movie is a follow-up to the original Ghostbusters franchise. In a bid to respect what came before it, Afterlife invited all four of the original Ghostbusters back to continue their stories. The actors spent their time welcoming in the next generation of Ghostbusters. Even the late Harold Ramis reprised his role as Egon, despite ing before filming began.

While Ghostbusters: Afterlifeset up one potential series twist, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire now has a chance to follow through on this premise. The Ghostbusters franchise has a pretty simple conceit that is effectively encapsulated in its title. The heroes use their ramshackle, homemade technology to capture and contain ghosts, ghouls, and other supernatural phenomena. Despite their brand, the Ghostbusters don’t just deal with ghosts. Instead, they have been known to handle demons, ancient gods, and all manner of other paranormal problems. Consistently, the Ghostbusters are portrayed as forces of good, containing the chaos caused by the supernatural world’s unruly denizens.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire looks like it’ll be a suitably fun-filled Ghostbusters adventure with a lot of laughs, but it’ll struggle to top Afterlife’s most emotional scene. Following on from its predecessor, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire will see the Spengler family returning to New York City to help the original Ghostbusters in their quest to fend off another spectral invasion. This time, the ghosts have frozen the city during one of its signature scorching summers, threatening the world with a second Ice Age.

While Ghostbusters: Afterlife was a fine followup to the franchise’s earlier films, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’s new director promises a big improvement in one vital sector. 2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife was a strong reboot for a franchise that struggled with follow-ups for decades. 1989’s Ghostbusters II was mostly written off as a belated cash-in despite some strong scenes, while 2016’s divisive reboot Ghostbusters: Answer the Call failed to reinvent the franchise for a new generation. Although Ghostbusters: Afterlife relied a little too heavily on nostalgia, the reboot introduced likable new characters and offered a sweet reunion for the original heroes.

While Ghostbusters: Afterlife was a solid addition to the series, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire seems like a far stronger continuation of the franchise for several reasons. When 2016’s Ghostbusters rebootproved a financial and critical misfire, the creators of the franchise went back to the drawing board and offered viewers something completely different five years later. Where 2016’s reboot ignored the original characters, Ghostbusters: Afterlife centered their legacy and hyped their big return. While the 2016 movie was set in the franchise’s iconic NYC location, Ghostbusters: Afterlife relocated the series to a small town in rural Oklahoma.

Although Sigourney Weaver is one of the original cast of Ghostbusters, her return in Ghostbusters: Afterlifeended up affecting her place in the reboot movies. Back in 1984, Ivan Reitman introduced the world to a group of eccentric parapsychologists who started a ghost-catching business in New York City and made themselves known as the “Ghostbusters”. The movie was a huge critical and commercial success, becoming a cultural phenomenon, and, unsurprisingly, making way for a very profitable multimedia franchise with video games, comic books, TV shows, and two sequels.

Ghostbusters fan art recreates Afterlife's scene with the original cast in the style of The Real Ghostbusters. The multimedia franchise started with the 1984 classic film starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, and Ernie Hudson as four paranormal investigators in New York City. With a profound effect on popular culture and a dedicated fan following, the film received multiple sequels, including the recent legacy sequel Ghostbusters: Afterlife in 2021. In addition to feature films, the franchise also spawned the animated spinoff series, The Real Ghostbusters, which continued the adventures of Dr. Venkman, Dr. Spengler, Dr. Stantz, and Winston.