Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is hitting theaters and the sprawling cast includes several familiar faces and new characters. The events of Frozen Empire take place two years after Ghostbusters: Afterlife. The Spengler family and Gary Grooberson have since moved to New York City and into the Ghostbusters’ old, iconic firehouse. They’re having fun being the new Ghostbusters, but that puts them on an old adversary’s radar.
When an ancient and evil entity is accidentally unleashed and threatens to turn all of NYC into a frozen wasteland, however, the new Ghostbusters need all the help they can get. That means calling upon the original Ghostbusters, and new allies, to help stop the threat. Here are all the characters to know in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.
Returning Characters
Gary Grooberson – Paul Rudd
Gary Grooberson was the local high school summer science teacher and seismologist in Ghostbusters: Afterlife. After getting pulled into the ghostbusting shenanigans in Summerville, Oklahoma in the previous movie, he realized it had ignited a passion for the paranormal. After helping the kids fight the ghosts they’d accidentally unleashed, as well as developing a potentially romantic relationship with Callie, it appears he’ll be stepping into a more prominent role in the sequel.
Callie Spengler – Carrie Coon
Callie Spengler is Egon Spengler’s estranged daughter and single mother to Phoebe and Trevor. In Ghostbusters: Afterlife, it was established that her father’s obsession with ghosts and paranormal theory led to him abandoning his family and becoming estranged from them. However, by the end of the movie, it was revealed that he’d done it to protect not just his family, but the entire world.
Phoebe Spengler – Mckenna Grace
Phoebe Spengler is the spiritual reincarnation of her late grandpa, Egon. Eccentric, smart, and deeply nerdy, Phoebe doesn’t always fit in with her peers, but what she lacks in social graces, she more than makes up for in curiosity and brilliance. In Afterlife, she’s the one who first figures out the farmhouse is haunted, as well as being the one to restore the Ghostbusters’ old equipment and the beloved Ecto-1. In Frozen Empire, it appears she’ll once again be the brains behind the whole operation.
Trevor Spengler – Finn Wolfhard
Trevor Spengler is Phoebe’s older brother who, in Afterlife, is initially less-than-thrilled to be moving to the middle of nowhere after his mother inherited Egon’s farmhouse. He develops a crush on local town girl, Lucky, and at first, he’s more interested with fitting in than with exploring Phoebe’s assertions that the house is haunted. However, he comes around by the end of the movie, teaming up with his sister to help stop the ancient entity they accidentally unleashed.
Original Characters
Dr. Peter Venkman – Bill Murray
Dr. Peter Venkman may not have been the scientific genius of Egon or the keen theoricist that Ray was, but he was the charismatic face of the team. The end of Afterlife revealed that he eventually married Sigourney Weaver’s Dana Barrett and has been living comfortably ever since. In Frozen Empire, he returns for a few scenes, which he, of course, steals, and suits up once again in the OG Ghostbusters clothes.
Dr. Ray Stantz – Dan Akroyd
Dr. Ray Stantz was always the most out-there of the original Ghostbusters team, the first to come up with the wildest theories – theories that, unfortunately, often were proven right, no matter how grand or wild. In Afterlife, he’s the first Ghostbuster Phoebe tracks down for help, and he rounds up the rest of the surviving Ghostbusters to help the young Spenglers. In Frozen Empire, he is no longer a full-time Ghostbuster, but also runs an occult book store. He also serves as a sort of father figure and mentor, particularly to Phoebe.
Dr. Winston Zeddemore – Ernie Hudson
Dr. Winston Zeddemore joined the team as the new, fourth member in the original Ghostbusters. Since the events of the movie, he’s earned his doctorate and become quite wealthy as an entrepreneur. It’s also revealed in Frozen Empire that he’s founded another paranormal research center, a top-secret facility dedicated to taking paranormal research and ghostbusting to the next level.
Janine Melnitz – Annie Potts
Janine Melnitz was one of the more beloved characters in the Ghostbusters franchise. The team’s long-suffering and ever-deadpan secretary had a longstanding and unrequited crush on Egon. In Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, she suits up as a Ghostbuster, so it appears she’s made the leap from holding down the fort at the firehouse to going out in the field.
Walter Peck – William Atherton
In the original Ghostbusters, Walter Peck was an NYC bureaucrat who hated what the Ghostbusters were doing. His stiff, buttoned-up nature especially clashed with Peter Venkman. Now that he’s the mayor of New York City, he’s not pleased that the next generation of Spenglers have moved back into the firehouse and restarted the ghostbusting business.
New Characters
Nadeem Razmaadi – Kumail Nanjiani
Nadeem is a slacker-type guy who happens to wander into Ray’s occult book shop with a strange artifact. It’s an odd orb that was owned by his grandma, but, unbeknownst to him, it trapped an ancient evil entity. Naturally, that entity (named Garraka) escapes, and it’s up to Ghostbusters new and old to shut it down.
Dr. Hubert Wartzki – Patton Oswalt
Dr. Hubert Wartzki is a scholar and librarian at the New York Public Library. He’s so enthusiastic about ancient history and scholarship that he’s the one to understand what the orb is and what it truly means for everyone.
New & Returning Supporting Characters
Lucky Domingo – Celese O’Connor
Lucky was Trevor’s new friend and crush in Ghostbusters: Afterlife, but she became a stalwart ally after she valiantly stepped in to help defeat the ghosts. She even got possessed by Zuul while they were in the closed mines beneath the town, but the Spenglers, led by Phoebe, thwart Zuul and the other entities and free Lucky of her possession.
Podcast – Logan Kim
Outside of Mr. Grooberson, Podcast is Phoebe’s only friend in Summerville, thanks to the fact he’s as nerdy as she is. Podcast is aptly named because he wants to record everything and turn it into his own personal podcast, which he knows will make him famous one day. Like Lucky, he’s not in the movie as much, but he proves himself to be a loyal friend. As the main action of Frozen Empire takes place in New York City, it’s entirely possible Lucky and Podcast will travel to join their friends.
Lars Pinfield – James Acaster
Lars Pinfield is described as an Egon-like character, who is a brilliant inventor. He’s come up with a number of new ghostbusting technologies. With the OG Ghostbusters now working with Winston’s top-notch paranormal research facility, it’s possible that’s how Lars enters the story.
Melody – Emily Alyn Lind
Melody is a ghost with whom Phoebe bonds in Frozen Empire in a subplot that involves a bit of teen angst and Phoebe’s frustrations. The two connect during a nighttime chess game in NYC’s famous Washington Square Park.
Get tickets to Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
