Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire: Origin of Garraka Revealed by Director (Exclusive)

2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife brought the franchise full circle not only with the return of the original cast but the big villain of the first film, Gozer the Gozerian. The sequel to the series, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, now playing in theaters, flipped the script in an interesting way by returning the setting to New York City but also delivering a brand new big bad. Enter Garraka, an ancient entity with two major abilities, controlling other ghosts and the ability known as the Death Chill, which kills people by freezing them solid. Speaking with ComicBook.com in an exclusive interview, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire director Gil Kenan opened up about the actual origins of how the villain was created for the sequel.

“The genesis was that we knew that we were going to amp up the stakes and that we were moving into the Post-Gozerian era with this story,” Kenan said, noting that this presented them with the perfect opportunity to develop new mythology and especially a new villain. “So the idea of going from the sort of warm summery fields of Somerville, Oklahoma to New York City that would in the height of its summer go through a supernatural, deep freeze was actually a really core early concept that Jason and I started to pitch before, before we ever fleshed out the rest of the story. So we kind of knew where we were heading. Garraka started to become the sort of physical embodiment of the terror that was going to have to be confronted by our heroes.”

Kenan, who co-wrote the movie with producer and Afterlife director Jason Reitman, revealed that the actual look and name for Garraka was split between the two of them in an unconventional way.

“(Garraka) visually started to come together while we were writing him,” Kenan continued. “I draw all the time while we’re working, it’s how I think sometimes. So I started to sketch out this kind of nightmarish character with long curling nails and horns that would bend down behind him, and that series of drawings kind of very literally ended up being the character that you met in the film. His name, I remember Jason just pulling the name out of the air. It was just like he turned to me and said, ‘Garraka’ and I was like, ‘Garraka,’ that’s it. So that was how we came together, imagery from one side, name from the other. It’s how we work, always, we’re sort of always spinning stories together and it’s really it’s a really joyous experience of creating with my best friend.”

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.

The cast for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire includes original franchise stars Bill Murray as Dr. Peter Venkman, Dan Aykroyd as Dr. Ray Stantz, Ernie Hudson as Dr. Winston Zeddemore, Annie Potts as Janine Melnitz, and William Atherton as Walter Peck; plus returning Ghostbusters: Afterlife stars Finn Wolfhard as Trevor Spengler, Mckenna Grace as Phoebe Spengler, Carrie Coon as Callie Spengler, Celeste O’Connor as Lucky Domingo, and Paul Rudd as Gary Grooberson. Newcomers to the Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire cast include Kumail Nanjiani as Nadeem Razmaadi, Patton Oswalt as Dr. Hubert Wartzkim, and Emily Alyn Lind as Melody.