The second official trailer proves release will return the franchise to its original timeline and include much of the original cast as well as entirely new characters played by Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Carrie Coons, and Paul Rudd.
Few details are known regarding the exact plot of the film or how large a role returning cast will play in the film. However, the trailers for Ghostbusters: Afterlife indicate that the film is set over 30 years after the events of the 1989 film new Ghostbusters: Afterlife friends and returning original characters.
Obviously, this film will use many elements from the original movies but incorporate them in a way that allows new characters to continue the Ghostbusters’ legacy. This will stand in stark contrast with what Paul Feig’s reboot attempted to do in 2016. In fact, Ghostbusters: Afterlife avoids the reboot’s biggest mistake by thoroughly embracing the history of the original Creed.
Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters missed the mark because the film chose to reject what came before. It killed off original Ghostbusters star Bill Murray’s cameo character and followed it with Kate McKinnon joking he wasn’t Ghostbusters’ material. The film ultimately goes out of its way to reinvent itself as a modern Melissa McCarthy comedy with over-the-top gags that seem more akin to a parody than a true Ghostbusters movie.
The reverence with which the original source material and characters are treated with in Afterlife isn’t a big surprise given the film’s director is Jason Reitman, the son of Ivan Reitman, who directed the original Ghostbusters movies. The new movie should be in good hands as Jason grew up with Ghostbusters playing a large role in his childhood. He even makes a brief appearance in Ghostbusters II as the young boy at a birthday party who confronts the Ghostbusters about their business going under. Naturally, it stands to reason that Jason will treat his father’s work with the utmost respect and craft a film worthy of continuing the Ghostbusters’ legacy.
Nonetheless, the trailers for Ghostbusters: Afterlife make it clear that the film will also be something entirely original. While there has been some criticism that the trailers make it appear as though the reboot has entirely forgotten that the original Ghostbusters was a comedy, it appears the film strikes a good balance between nostalgia and originality. Finding this balance is something that the 2016 reboot failed to do and it ended up being the film’s biggest mistake. Hopefully, Jason Reitman’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife will avoid this mistake and give audiences wanting something tied more closely to the original movies the Ghostbusters sequel they've been waiting for.
