Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Bringing Back Original Villain
One thing that surprised us about Ghostbusters: Afterlife was that the movie shamelessly brought back the original Big Bad, Gozer; it made for a fun scene, but the villain’s appearance was unexpected in this soft franchise reboot. Now, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire looks to be deviating from the reboot formula established by the last movie, but that doesn’t mean fans shouldn’t expect to see the return of some other major villains from the first film.
Walter Peck Returning
In addition to the gluttonous franchise mascot Slimer, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire will see the return of minor antagonist Walter Peck.
We say “minor antagonist” because Peck doesn’t exactly hold a candle to apocalyptic threats like Gozer the Gozerian or the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
William Atherton Returning
However, those major villains might have never been able to plague New York if Peck’s overzealous EPA agent hadn’t shut down the Ghostbusters’ containment unit, freeing countless captured spooks before he had the Ghostbusters arrested.
Now, William Atherton is reprising his role as Walter Peck for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, but it’s not yet clear what function he will serve in the film’s plot.
Clashing With The Ghostbusters
In the original Ghostbusters movie, Peck had both professional and personal grudges with the team.
As an EPA agent, he considered the Ghostbusters frauds whose business was potentially harming the environment in a big way.
He also clashed with Peter Venkman, calling the two-time Ph.D. “Mr. Venkman.” Later, he tried to get violent when Venkman played off Rey’s nickname for Peck (“d***less”), deadpanning to the mayor, “Yes, it’s true…this man has no d***.”
Friendlier This Time Around?
In that first film, Peck learns the hard way that the Ghostbusters are legitimate when he unleashes a spectral apocalypse on New York by shutting down the group’s containment unit.
That means there’s a chance the character will have a friendlier relationship with the team (new and old) in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.
This would be in line with Peck’s appearance in IDW’s non-canonical Ghostbusters comics: in those stories, he helps the local government oversee the Ghostbusters, acknowledging that they are both legitimate and necessary but seeing them as a group that still needs tight regulation.
Bill Murray Returning
Regardless of whether Walter Peck has turned over a new leaf regarding the team, one thing we are sure of is that Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire will give us at least one more verbal sparring match between this beleaguered government official and Peter Venkman.
Bill Murray will once again be reprising his role for this film, and he will be joined by fellow OGs (sorry, kids, it stands for “Original Ghostbusters” now) Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson.
Honestly, we didn’t get a whole lot of Venkman’s trademark wit in his Afterlife cameo, so a verbal throwdown or two with Walter Peck could be just what this sequel needs.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire In March
For fans of the franchise, the good news is that we won’t have to wait that long to see what Walter Peck and other returning baddies (including Slimer and those cute little Mini Stay Pufts) are up to in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.
The movie’s release date has been moved up by one week, and it will now be coming out on March 22. After the critical and commercial success of Afterlife, here’s hoping busting makes us feel good once again.
Source: Ghostbusters News
