Ghostbusters: Why Slimer Didn't Return For Afterlife (& Why It Was Right)

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Here's why it's perfect that Slimer didn't appear in Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Crafting a reboot to a dormant or stalled movie franchise is always an odd balancing act, doubly so when it's a sequel to a beloved property made decades prior. The impulse is naturally there to lean hard on the nostalgia factor, spending the runtime indulging in callbacks and fan service designed to make long-time viewers smile with recognition. At the same time, the reboot can't just be that kind of sentimental stuff, or else it has no real reason to exist, necessitating the creation of new characters and plots to latch onto going forward. This tightrope explains why Slimer's reintroduction to the franchise was far from straightforward.

Unlike the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot, Ghostbusters: Afterlife has an explicit link to the original two films in the series. Focusing on Egon Spengler's family, the plot features several recurring elements from previous installments, such as the evil entity Gozer and returning characters such as Bill Murray's Peter Venkman and Sigourney Weaver's Dana Barrett. Given this context, it isn't surprising that the film treads a fine line between welcome nostalgia and drippy sentimentality with no substance. Given all of the nostalgia in Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Slimer's cameo is a noticeable absence.

Related: Ghostbusters: Afterlife Cleverly Revived Bill Murray's Original Sequel Demand

Judging by Ghostbusters: Afterlife's 95 percent Rotten Tomatoes audience score though, its blend of nostalgia and innovation seems to be working for the masses, and it's no wonder that the reboot's opening weekend ended up better than predicted. Yet, despite all of Ghostbusters: Afterlife's numerous parallel plot points and nods back