Ghostbusters: Afterlife Director Teases Return of Ghostbusters II Villain

Ghostbusters: Afterlife is now playing in theaters, and there are plenty of nods to the first two Ghostbusters films, including cameos from most of the original stars. The movie has raised some questions about Ghostbusters II, including whether or not Carrie Coon's character, Egon Spengler's (Harold Ramis) daughter, was alive during the sequel. Director Jason Reitman has confirmed the retcon, but he's been tight-lipped about some other Ghostbusters II connections. However, during a recent interview with the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Reitman teased that a sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife could feature an appearance from Ghostbusters II's Vigo The Carpathian, who was played by the late Wilhelm von Homburg back in 1989.

"There is a lot of time and opportunity for Vigo The Carpathian to make his return. Look, are you saying that's the only painting of Vigo The Carpathian? Maybe, he's riding a horse in another one, maybe, impaling someone in another one," Reitman teased.

In another recent interview with Uproxx, Reitman was asked about the Ghostbusters logo in Aferlife, and the choice to revert it to the original instead of keeping the updated version from the 1989 sequel.

"I wish I could talk to you about that," Reitman replied when asked if Egon changed the logo of the ghost holding up a "two" back to the original at some point. "I'm just saying that's a plot that is not in this film and we have ideas moving forward." He added, "Ghostbusters II, definitely canon. There are references to Ghostbusters II in Afterlife. We meet Ray working at Ray's Occult. The toaster from Ghostbusters II is in the kitchen in the farmhouse. There's actually lots of lost of Ghostbusters II details but nobody knows Ghostbusters II outside of Vigo the Carpathian and the Ghostbusters II logo. So there's this assumption that it is not canon but it is definitely canon." 

Ghostbusters: Afterlife is currently up on Rotten Tomatoes with a 63% critics score after 241 reviews and a 95% audience score after 2,500+ reviews. ComicBook.com's Spencer Perry gave the movie a 2 out of 5, saying it has "abysmally forced references" and while "it's not poorly made on the whole, it's just exhausting."

Would you like to see a follow-up to Ghostbusters: Afterlife that features Vigo The Carpathian? Tell us your thoughts in the comments! 

Ghostbusters: Afterlife is now playing in theaters.