Update: Bloody Disgusting has exclusively confirmed with three separate sourced that Slimer will in fact be in the film. On the other hand, Paul Feig took to Twitter to debunk the Dan Castellaneta IMDB credit.
Made of pure ectoplasm, Slimer haunted the Sedgewick Hotel in Ivan Reitman’s 1984 Ghostbusters, and is famous for being the first spook Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Harold Ramis ever caught.
While this puppet was a fun character who slimed Murray’s Dr. Peter Venkman in the original’s debut, Slimer didn’t become a household name until being featured in the 1986 animated spinoff, “The Real Ghostbusters.”
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Flash forward to 2015, where Paul Feig is currently in post-production on his Ghostbusters, which is being pegged as a reboot. While many remakes play the same universe card (see Friday the 13th, Poltergeist, Jurassic World, Evil Dead, etc.), the new Ghostbusters is clearly starting fresh; Feig has filmed cameos for many of the original Ghostbusters cast – Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, and even Sigourney Weaver – in new roles.
This left a single question unanswered, one that I seriously can’t believe nobody asked: what about Slimer?
The IMDb cannot be trusted but, according to the site, “The Simpsons” voice actor Dan Castellaneta will be lending his talents to Slimer. Who might “Little Spud” sound like? Castellaneta is best known for voicing both Homer and Abe Simpson, as well as Barney. I think it’s safe to assume there’s truth here, considering the rash of cameos that also include Ozzy Osbourne.
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I’m personally juiced to see Slimer return to the franchise, but this news only leads to a series of new questions. Will this Slimer live in the same universe as the original films? Will Onionhead look the same/similar? Will Slimer talk?! The latter is the biggest head-scratcher of all. Will Castellaneta be mumbling weird, unintelligible dialect, or will he actually be communicating directly with the cast, which now includes Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones as the new ‘busters?
I keep going back and forth on if I’m excited for the film or not, so I’ve just decided to reserve my judgement for opening night…
We’ll be strapping on our Proton Packs and crossing the streams July 15, 2016.
