Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Bringing Back Another Beloved Figure From Original Movie

The iconic Slimer will be returning for the fifth film in the series.

By Patrick Cavanaugh

Arguably as iconic as any of the human stars of the Ghostbusters films is The Onionhead Ghost, more commonly known as Slimer, with the official Ghostbusters Twitter account confirming that fans can expect to see the character in the upcoming Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. The account made the reveal by sharing a theatrical standee for the upcoming sequel, and given that the ghost was absent from the events of Ghostbusters: Afterlife, fans will be excited to know the ghost might have been gone from that film but was far from forgotten. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is set to land in theaters on March 29, 2024.

"Slimer is back along with a new empire of spirits waiting to be discovered. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is coming soon exclusively to movie theaters," the account tweeted with a video of the standee.

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.

Fans first met Slimer in the 1984 Ghostbusters, and while he is commonly known by that ooze-inspired moniker, he wasn't specifically named after the damage he does to Bill Murray's Venkman in the film itself. In fact, in the original script, Slimer is referred to as "The Onionhead Ghost," which is in regards to his appearance and also the fact that he smells, with a deleted scene from that movie showing the specter terrifying a couple with his smell alone.

While Slimer would return for Ghostbusters II and also appear in 2016's Ghostbusters, the ghoul was absent from Afterlife. Director of Afterlife Jason Reitman previously explained that it was a specfic decision to avoid Slimer, with the filmmaker detailing to The AV Club, "The movie takes place in Oklahoma so we wanted to work with ghosts that were gonna be native to the actual area. 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."

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is set to land in theaters on March 29, 2024.

Are you excited to see Slimer return? Let us know in the comments!  

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