While the OG Ghostbusters team – Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Ernie Hudson – certainly had a role to play in Afterlife, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire director Gil Kenan promises they will feel "more fully fleshed out" in the fourth entry.
"There comes a point in every story where the task of survival, of defeating the thing that you’re up against, is going to require you to act,” Kenan tells SFX magazine in the new issue, which features Dune 2 on the cover.
"That’s the moment that’s really thrilling for me as a Ghostbusters fan: watching their involvement in the story redefine itself, grow and become more fully fleshed out in a way that speaks to the promise of the original Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters 2, and what was glimpsed in the fields outside of Summerville in Afterlife. There’s a direct line from there into who they are now and how they act here in our new story."
Kenan added that they would be treated as "actual characters." He said: "We had a duty to make those legendary characters integral to this story."
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Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire releases in cinemas on March 22. The above is just a snippet of our interview, available in the latest issue of SFX magazine, which features Dune: Part Two on the cover and is available on newsstands from Wednesday, February 21. For even more from SFX, sign up to our newsletter, which delivers all the latest exclusives straight to your inbox.