9 Reasons Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Looks Way Better Than Ghostbusters: Afterlife

While Ghostbusters: Afterlife was a solid addition to the series, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire seems like a far stronger continuation of the franchise for several reasons. When 2016’s Ghostbusters reboot proved a financial and critical misfire, the creators of the franchise went back to the drawing board and offered viewers something completely different five years later. Where 2016’s reboot ignored the original characters, Ghostbusters: Afterlife centered their legacy and hyped their big return. While the 2016 movie was set in the franchise’s iconic NYC location, Ghostbusters: Afterlife relocated the series to a small town in rural Oklahoma.

While a lot of these changes worked in its favor, Ghostbusters: Afterlife was far from perfect. The reboot occasionally felt too rooted in the past, and it took most of the movie’s lengthy runtime to reintroduce the franchise’s original heroes. Fortunately, the upcoming Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire seems to have learned from the missteps of its predecessor judging by its promotional materials. With a nostalgic setting, new roles for old characters, some exciting new faces, and both returning and original villains, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire appears determined to make up for the mistakes of 2021’s moderately successful reboot.

9 Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Director Gil Kenan’s Horror Pedigree

The Poltergeist and Monster House director knows kid-friendly horror

Ghostbusters: Afterlife played it safe when it came to the movie’s director, with comedy veteran Jason Reitman taking over from his late father Ivan Reitman, who directed the two original Ghostbusters movies. While the Juno director has a knack for character comedy, Ghostbusters: Afterlife was notably short on scares. In contrast, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire director Gil Kenan is perfectly equipped to balance horror and comedy, judging by his work on 2015’s Poltergeist remake and 2006’s Monster House. This means the series can bring back more of the scares seen in the original movie.

8 Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Cutting Back Gary and Callie’s Romance

Paul Rudd and Carrie Coon’s characters can focus on their Ghostbuster roles

One of the most unexpectedly sweet elements of Ghostbusters: Afterlife was the tentative romance between Carrie Coon’s bedraggled single mother Callie and Paul Rudd’s endearingly nerdy teacher Gary Grooberson. However, it is still a good thing that Ghostbusters: Afterlife’s ending kept the duo together. Their cute romantic subplot never fully gelled with the rest of the movie’s story, meaning Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire will benefit from focusing less on their courtship and more on their work as part of the next generation of Ghostbusters.

7 Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’s New York Setting

The sequel brings the series back to its hometown

It was a welcome surprise when Ghostbusters: Afterlife brought its heroes to a sleepy Oklahoma town, but this decision did jar with the tone of the original movies. New York City was central to the original Ghostbusters movies and the threat of Gozer unleashing all manner of monsters just didn’t hit as hard when these beasts were rampaging through a quiet rural community. In contrast, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’s earliest teaser trailer depicted New York consumed by a freakish ice storm, a striking image of mass-scale destruction that was more in line with the original movies.

6 Walter Peck’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Return

The iconic human villain of 1984’s original Ghostbusters is back

While the villainous god Gozer will not be back in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, this doesn’t mean that the movie will be lacking in effective antagonists. William Atherton’s officious EPA inspector Walter Peck will return in the sequel and, judging by the trailer, he will be as eager to shut down the Ghostbusters as he was four decades earlier. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’s villain revenge plot will be a fun break from the supernatural shenanigans, especially when Ghostbusters: Afterlife lacked a similar human villain. Peck’s grudge against the Ghostbusters also means he may become a formidable foe thanks to decades of bitterness.

5 Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’s Incredible New Villain

The trailer focuses on a deeply creepy, promising new monster

Speaking of Gozer not returning, the franchise needed to find an effective alternative villain after dropping its original monster. Fortunately, the final trailer for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire proves that the series has pulled this off. An unnamed evil entity, this dark, horned monster is apparently capable of killing its victims through fear alone. Unleashed by an artifact that looks like Hellraiser’s Lament Configuration, this thoroughly chilling villain appears to be responsible for the teaser trailer’s new ice age. As such, the antagonist might be the most powerful that the series has depicted so far.

4 Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Not Holding Back The Original Gang

The Ghostbusters returning in Afterlife makes their presence easier to establish

While Ghostbusters: Afterlife spent a good portion of its limited runtime teasing the return of the original Ghostbusters, its sequel won’t need to repeat this tiresome routine. Instead, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’s new generation of heroes can be its main focus. The trailers make it clear that Ray, Janine, Winston, and Venkman will all still play a role in the chaos, but the movie is unlikely to spend a long time teasing their eventual comeback as its predecessor did. Instead, the original cast can have more to do when they do appear, instead of mostly waiting in the wings.

3 Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’s Superior Returning Ghosts

Slimer and the library ghost are better than Afterlife’s Muncher

While Ghostbusters: Afterlife’s lethargic Muncher wasn’t as poorly received as his much-mocked online debut implied he would be, the new ghost was nothing special. In contrast, the return of both Slimer and the original movie’s iconically scary library ghost proves that Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is choosing the right supernatural side characters for its story. These recurring figures can earn the sequel some nostalgia points without taking up too much screen time, a perfect balance for the reboot’s sequel to strike.

2 Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Gives The Original Heroes More To Do

The sequel already offered Janine a better role than Afterlife

While Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire replaces the original Ghostbusters with a new generation now protecting New York from paranormal phenomena, this doesn’t mean that the movie won’t provide its original heroes with meaningful roles. Since Ghostbusters: Afterlife put off their return for so long, the Ghostbusters effectively only arrived in the closing scenes. In contrast, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire has already proven that it will give them much more to do, with Janine even donning a Ghostbuster suit in both a promotional image and the trailer.

1 Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’s New Characters

The sequel’s cast list is stuffed with promising new faces

The returning original cast members of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire are more exciting than those of Ghostbusters: Afterlife since the sequel is guaranteed to give them more than a finale cameo this time around. However, there is a slew of new faces joining the sequel’s cast that are even more promising. Patton Oswalt, Kumail Nanjiani, Emily Alyn Lind, and British comedian James Acaster all play new characters in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, a fun development that proves this sequel can outdo its predecessor, Ghostbusters: Afterlife.