Ghostbusters 2016 Fan Theory

Okay, so you’re still with us so we shall dive straight in.

The theory is that this movie is, in fact, part 4 of the Ghostbuster’s Cinematic Franchise.

I hear you saying “Wait, you two morons, there was never a ‘Ghostbusters 3’.”  First off, rude.  Be nice.

Secondly, many fans of the film series widely accept Ghostbusters: The Video Game released in 2009 is in fact the missing 3^rd film, due to its quality, addition of the original cast voicing the characters, and its adherence to cinematic cannon.  The game was set in 1991, three years after the second film wherein they are still riding the hero train, working as city contractors and training new recruits.

Our theory begins between GB1 and GB2 where the city of New York has some sort of amnesia about the events of the first film, despite there only being a 5 year difference.   You would think seeing a marshmallow man the size of an apartment building would have been ingrained in the minds of the populace, but sometime after the events of GB1 the Ghostbusters are sued by the city for the damages to the apartment building and surrounding area and are force to shut down.  Ray even comments about the very issue in the film, pointing out how nobody seems to remember what they did.

If the game is GB3, and for the sake of this theory, we’ll say it is, that means there’s 25 years between it and the film of 2016.  In 5 years, just 5 years the city forgot what they did, what would they forget in five times that?  Sure in GB3 they still remember but they’re still under the oversight of the city, and specifically Walter Peck who has gone right back to not believing in ghosts.

Now for some interesting coincidences.  It’s quite a coincidence that as this new team of Ghostbusters is formed, the same old faces from the franchise pop up again?  Literally all the surviving Ghostbusters and Dana Barret, now calling herself Rebecca Gorin, pop up along their journey.  Bill Murray is trying to debunk the new team, Dan Aykroyd is driving a cab and Ernie Hudson is Leslie Jones’ uncle, a funeral director.

Mentor to budding scientist, paranormal debunker, cab driver, funeral director, all of whom just happen into the path of a new team of Ghostbusters right as they are coming into their own…how very convenient.

But the real telling point to build this theory is what the mayor does at the end.  He publically denounces the Ghostbusters, but privately funds their research.  This is a very weird compromise unless you consider:

The people of New York are going to forget about the events soon.  There is something inherent to the paranormal that makes the human brain write it off as myth, something that likes the stories but cannot accept the reality.  The events of 1984, 1989, and 1991 all fall into the depths of urban legend and everyone except the people directly involved in the matters completely forget about it.  It’s the paranormal so anything is possible.

But what about the original Ghostbusters: Well they went into a form of witness protection.  Egon and Ray were both respected scientists so they probably wrote books about their adventures, but as public memory started to fade people completely forgot about these events.  Its hard to maintain your reputation when the collective consciousness says it never happened and you’re written off as frauds.  But someone with the city or federal government knew what was going on and assigned them new identities.

Dana Barret became Rebecca Gorin, her eccentric nature being a byproduct of being victimized, twice, by ghosts.

Winston Zeddemore move in with family and became a funeral director, something a little more down to earth.

Ray Stantz just needs money to fund his little experiments and probably is very happy living as a cab driver.

Egon Spengler probably went to work directly for the government.

But then there’s Peter Venkman.  He became a paranormal debunker because 1) he loves the lime light, and 2) who better to debunk the paranormal than a guy who’s faced it in combat.

Rebecca/Dana figures out what Kate McKinnon’s Holtzman is working on, or where her research is headed, and notifies Egon.  Egon, already watching Yates and Gilbert closely arranges events to force the three together over time.  Ray, a cabbie, can drive by the area any time and keep an eye on them.  Winston discovers his niece is in now involved with them and loans her the car.  During all of this they call in Venkman who goes in “debunking” them but really getting a good look at the work they’re doing.

They are still active but due to injunctions from the government and the ravages of time they can’t bust ghosts anymore.  Gilbert and Yates had to use some kind of material for research, why shouldn’t it be dusty old copies of Ray and Egon’s books?

So there you have it, a theory that connects all four installments of the Ghostbusters.

Hope you enjoyed.

If you get a chance, check out The Lake Haven Chronicles by William Dilbeck

https://www.amazon.com/Better-Off-Dead-Lakehaven-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00JLPG8HE#navbar

thanks for reading.