Who is the villain in ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire?’

A brand new trailer for a brand new Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire movie dropped today, and for once it doesn’t like it’s a rehash of older stuff. The trailer, a teaser, has a lot to unpack. Firstly, we have some familiar faces, like Dan Akroyd, Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson. There’s also a new villain, but who is it?

The trailer starts off in the middle of summer in New York City. It’s sweltering hot, and some people take the day to relax at the beach. Suddenly, everything stops and there’s a chill coming from out in the ocean.

It turns out to be an ice storm that causes spikes of frozen spears to appear all over the city. Honestly, it feels pretty original. Take a look:

The villain is named the Death Chill, and it can kill people through fear alone while making them freeze to death. We don’t get to see the supernatural force itself, but we do get to see the havoc it wreaks on the city.

This is the fifth movie in the franchise, and the first time there’s a wholly original bad guy for the ‘busters to take on. The absence of franchise regulars Gozer or Zuul really allows the film to move in a new direction, and move in a new direction it indeed has! This is not your parents’ (grandparents’?) Ghostbusters.

Ackroyd’s Ray explains that when people encounter the death chill they can’t move and the last thing they feel is their tear ducts freezing over. Yowza. That sounds uncomfortable, to say the least. In the trailer, Oswalt seems really pumped about the idea of a ghost that freezes you to death with fear.

Here’s a synopsis, courtesy of Entertainment Weekly:

“Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire finds the Spengler family returning to where it all started, the iconic New York City firehouse, to team up with the original Ghostbusters, who’ve developed a top-secret research lab to take busting ghosts to the next level. But when the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second Ice Age.”

Newcomers (to the franchise) Kumail Nanjiani and Patton Oswalt are also featured in the trailer, and we get to see all the old favorites as well, like:  Mckenna Grace as Phoebe; Finn Wolfhard as Trevor; Celeste O’Connor as Lucky; Carrie Coon as Callie; Logan Kim as Podcast and Paul Rudd as Mr. Grooberson.

There’s no release date for the movie just yet.