After countless delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sony Pictures’ Ghostbusters: Afterlife is finally playing in theaters around the world. Though the fourth film in the series, the latest movie ignores 2016’s Ghostbusters: Answer the Call (which functioned as a reboot), and acts as a direct sequel to the two Ghostbusters movies from the 1980s. Tragically in the time since 1989’s Ghostbusters II however, one of the four franchise leads, Harold Ramis, passed away, making a true reunion in the spiritual third film impossible. As fans know though the plot of the movie was largely built around Ramis’ character Egon and plenty of surprises were put into the sequel, leaving fans emotional as you can see below. Spoilers follow!
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The opening sequence of Ghostbusters: Afterlife actually fills in a major question mark about what happened to Egon, revealing how the character dies in the film’s continuity in Summerville, Oklahoma. During this scene Egon’s face is never seen, as actor Oliver Cooper appears as his body double, but his unmistakable silhouette makes it clear who we’re following considering the franchise we’re talking about it shouldn’t surprise audiences when the end of the movie occurs and the ghost of Egon (a CGI recreation of Ramis) appears alongside his other Ghostbusters to defeat Gozer the Gozerian once again. The reunion, and the spectral form of Egon, left many Ghostbusters fans in tears as the tweets below will attest.
Speaking in a previous interview, director Jason Reitman confirmed the importance of him earning approval from Ramis’ family to use his likeness in the movie, adding:
“I was never going to make this movie unless they were comfortable with the portrayal of Harold,” Reitman shared with The Hollywood Reporter. “Everyone has a favorite Beatle. And everyone has a favorite Ghostbuster. My favorite was always Egon.”
