Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is in theatres now and continues the story and franchise that began way back in 1984. At that time Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, and Ernie Hudson just thought they were in a dumb, fun horror comedy, but in the decades that followed, Ghostbusters became more.
That culminated in the release of 2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife, the first direct sequel to the original two Ghostbusters films, helmed by original director Ivan Reitman’s son, Jason. It was a film that polarized fans but made enough money for Sony Pictures to get rolling on another sequel, and that’s what’s coming next.
Frozen Empire picks up the story of Afterlife with characters new and old, battling a new threat in the team’s old stomping grounds: New York City. To prepare, the best thing would be to watch Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Or, you can check out our quick guide to all the characters and plot points we think you’ll need to know before the latest Ghostbusters film.
Callie Spengler (Carrie Coon)
Callie is a mother of two who, after being evicted from their big city apartment, took her kids Trevor and Phoebe to Summerville, Oklahoma. There, she’d inherited a mysterious farm left to her by an even more mysterious father. Soon, we learn her father was former Ghostbuster Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) who recently died.
Egon left Callie and her mother (who is never named) early in her life and while Callie always resented him for that, she learns he did it for a very good reason. He moved to Summerville to protect the world from the ghost he had previously found with the Ghostbusters, Gozer.
Callie eventually becomes part of Gozer’s plan to return only to be saved by her kids and the original Ghostbusters. We don’t see what happens after that, but Frozen Empire suggests they’ve moved to New York.
Phoebe (Mckenna Grace)
Phoebe is the youngest child of Callie Spengler and is quite the oddball. She tells bad jokes and is very deadpan, but also very smart, all in the mold of her grandfather, Egon Spengler, whom she never met nor was aware of, until the move to Oklahoma.
Once Phoebe realizes her grandfather was a Ghostbuster, she discovers some of the tech he left behind and begins to bust ghosts with the help of her new (and only) friend, Podcast (Logan Kim). Eventually the pair, along with her brother and others, fight the evil Gozer, who is defeated when Egon’s ghost comes and helps Phoebe.
Trevor (Finn Wolfhard)
Trevor is Callie’s oldest child and seems more interested in girls than anything having to do with his family. However, once he realizes the mess his sister has gotten into he—along with his crush, Lucky (Celeste O’Connor)—join Phoebe and Podcast in the fight against Gozer. He’s also the person who, with a little help from his grandfather’s ghost, brings the Ecto-1 back to life.
Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd)
Gary is a science teacher in Summerville who is obsessed with Seismology and the Ghostbusters of the 1980s. It’s Gary who shows Phoebe online clips that feature her grandfather, Egon, and also Gary who lets one of Gozer’s minions out, starting the major conflict of the film.
Gary goes on a date with Callie Spengler and soon finds himself part of Gozer’s plan, though he’s ultimately freed and saved. In the end, we aren’t sure of what his status is but the trailers make it seem as if he and the Spenglers are pretty close.
Lucky and Podcast
Lucky (Celeste O’Connor) and Podcast (Logan Kim) are the friends that Trevor and Phoebe meet in Oklahoma. Lucky is a sassy, smart teen who works at the local burger joint and whose father is the local sheriff. Podcast is a high-strung goof who has a podcast about unexplained phenomena. How either of them end up with the Spenglers in the new film is a mystery.
Oh, and in this image is also actor James Acaster as Lars Pinfield, an Egon-type inventor.
Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis)
Though Ramis passed in 2014, his character is crucial to the DNA of these new films. He, of course, had a daughter named Callie, but he didn’t tell his friends about her. At some point after the original movies, he stole the Ghostbusters’ Ecto-1 and much of their equipment without the other members knowing. That both ended the Ghostbusters and also created a deep resentment between him and his friends Peter, Ray, and Winston.
We learn, however, that he did it to protect them. Egon had discovered that Gozer was prophesied to return and he decided to figure out a way to stop her. He was almost successful, but died while trying to capture one of Gozer’s minions. His spirit remained on his farm and eventually reemerged to help his granddaughter Phoebe defeat Gozer.
Peter Venkman (Bill Murray)
Venkman was the de facto leader of the Ghostbusters in their heyday but, we learn, has since gone back to teaching, this time at SUNY Cortland. He may also be married to Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver) based on a post-credit scene in Afterlife, but it’s unclear.
Also unclear is the location of Oscar, Dana’s son, or if he’s a part of this.
Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd)
Ray was another one of the original members of the Ghostbusters who, after Egon left, reopened his occult shop in New York City. He was the last of the group to hear from Egon and the person Phoebe alerts to the happenings in Oklahoma. Because of that, we can presume he got Peter and Winston back together to help everyone defeat Gozer in the end.
Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson)
Winston was just a regular guy looking for a steady job when he was hired to be a Ghostbuster. The experience changed his life and after the events of the first two films, he became the head of a global company, making him very rich in the process.
He still pays the rent for Ray’s occult shop and, after the trio helps defeat Gozer, Winston buys back the original Ghostbusters firehouse for some reason.
Janine Melnitz (Annie Potts)
Janine was the Ghostbusters’ original secretary who developed a friendship with the group, mainly Egon. After he left, she presumably kept in contact with him because she arrived at the Oklahoma farm to greet Callie and the kids. Deleted scenes from Afterlife show her and Winston reminiscing in New York about the old days.
Classic ghosts
The trailers for Frozen Empire reveal that, somehow, all of the ghosts caught by the Ghostbusters are released in the film. We don’t know how many reappear but we do know that Slimer, a green blob named after his leftover residue, will return. Also returning are the Mini Pufts, small marshmallow men who appeared in Afterlife as an homage to the original Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.
That’s basically it
Those are the major characters and things you need to remember from Afterlife. But Frozen Empire is bringing in a few new characters, played by the likes of Kumail Nanjiani and Patton Oswalt, as well as old ones, such as Walter Peck played by William Atherton. He was the Environmental Protection Agency worker who shut down the Ghostbusters back in 1984. According to Venkman, he has no dick.