Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Finally Proves An Original Villain Was Right

The following contains spoilers for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, now playing in theaters

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire brings back a major antagonist from earlier entries in the Ghostbusters franchise, and actually give him some justified concerns about the Ghostbusters. While the group is largely dedicated to helping people and dealing with supernatural threats to the world, the characters of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire actually end up doing a lot of damage to the surrounding city. Not all of this is necessarily their fault, as they find themselves fighting dangerous threats like a long-lost ghostly deity.

However, many of the problems that arise in the film are direct results of the Ghostbusters themselves. While they’re still portrayed as the heroes of the film with genuinely noble intentions, the group’s efforts to combat dangerous supernatural threats end up causing a lot of serious damage to the surrounding city. It’s a surprisingly realistic element of Gil Kenan’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, and ends up providing one of their oldest enemies with a lot of new (and truthful) ammunition.

The Ghostbusters Are Largely Responsible For New York’s Damage In Frozen Empire

The Ghostbusters are directly to blame for the damage that befalls New York City in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, which proves a returned Walter Peck right. In Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the modern iteration of the group return to New York City and resumes catching ghosts. Their first mission in the film leads them on a city-wide chase that involves plenty of car crashes and property damage, but they are successful at containing a ghostly threat. However, many of the problems in the film are the direct fault of the Ghostbusters and their actions, which doesn’t look good for the group.

Phoebe uses her Proton Pack liberally in the film, with a missed shot seriously damaging a diner. She also uses one of Ray’s inventions to destroy one of the iconic Library Lions after it’s possessed. Phoebe’s efforts to bond with the ghostly Melody end up playing right into the hands of Garraka, who is able to finally break free of his prison and unleash an army of ghosts onto the world. Although Phoebe and the Ghostbusters are crucial in saving the day, it doesn’t change the fact that they’re largely responsible for much of the film’s destruction.

Frozen Empire Proves Walter Peck Was Right About The Ghostbusters Being Dangerous

Introduced in Ghostbusters as a representative of the EPA, Walter Peck was the closest thing the film had to a human antagonist. Deeply critical of the Ghostbuster’s methods and motivations, Peck was responsible for the climax of the film when he forcibly ordered the Containment Unit to be powered off without warning. By the time of the new film, Peck has become the Mayor of New York City, and retains his grudge against the Ghostbusters. However, this time around, Peck has some good points about the group that he’s quick to share with them.

Peck specifically focuses on the group allowing Phoebe to be a Ghostbuster, noting that a minor shouldn’t be allowed to fire lasers in public. He’s not wrong, and Phoebe’s unsupervised efforts deal serious damage around the city. The Ghostbusters are slow to resolve overcrowding in their Containment Unit, finally finding a solution that Winston admits will take years to complete. This allows a threat like Garraka to unleash them. Even their attempts to research ghosts have flaws, allowing ghosts like the Possession Ghost to escape and almost kill the heroes. This time, Peck is accurate when he calls the Ghostbusters dangerous.

Walter Peck Being Right About The Ghostbusters Is Bad News For The Team’s Future

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire ends with the group celebrated by the public for their defeat of Garraka. Peck attempts to bring down the group, but Winston quickly uses the public support to his advantage, forcing Peck to publicly offer his support and backing for the group. Even as the Ghostbusters get back to work in the film’s final moments, Peck’s now justified concerns about the Ghostbusters bodes poorly for them in the future. They could continue to damage New York City, potentially costing them public support. Peck will likely continue to hound them at every open opportunity.

Phoebe remains at the heart of the group’s future, and she’s already developed a very adversarial relationship with Peck that even gets her briefly arrested. Her rash and destructive nature has already almost doomed the world, and could cause more problems in the future. There’s also the fact that the Ghostbusters have become as dangerous as Peck always feared, meaning any future adventures could come with more destruction. Walter Peck’s return in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire highlights how much damage the group can genuinely do to the world around them, and proves they can actually be pretty dangerous.