Harold Ramis is the only one of the original quartet who’s no longer with us, but as a legacy sequel that looks to be leaning heavily into nostalgia, it’s fitting that the late actor, writer and director’s Egon Spengler is the driving force behind the entire story of Jason Reitman’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
It’s Egon’s daughter and grandkids that move to the middle of nowhere to live in his dilapidated farmhouse, where McKenna Grace’s Phoebe and Finn Wolfhard’s Trevor stumble upon his past as a Ghostbuster, and it all builds towards a cataclysmic supernatural event that’ll result in Bill Murray’s Peter Venkman, Dan Akroyd’s Ray Stantz and Ernie Hudson’s Winston Zeddemore coming in from the cold to suit up and help save the day.
As far as premises for a new Ghostbusters movies go, it’s definitely not a bad one, but a new theory offers that Egon could make his presence felt in a much more substantial capacity by appearing as a specter. As per the theory, the trailer features several snippets of footage that make it appear as though the house is being haunted by something, which could turn out to be the benevolent spirit of Egon, looking to point his family in the right direction to help them defeat the ghosts and ghouls that have escaped from the underworld.
Early drafts of Ghostbusters III dating back to the 1990s revolved around the idea of having Venkman as a ghost in a supporting role because the producers were wary about Murray’s willingness to return in a major capacity, and the idea that could’ve be incorporated into Afterlife with Egon taking that spot. However, you’d have to think the optics of bringing back a dead actor as a CGI apparition would be questionable at best.