With three sequels for the late Ivan Reitman's seminal classic now fermenting their way into the hearts and minds of Ghostbusters fandom for generations to come, we must ponder what may be in store for the next chapter in the beloved genre-blending franchise. With spin-offs in mediums such as cartoons, video games, and comic books, there is no shortage of creativity when it comes to our proton-stream-wielding heroes battling ghosts, ghouls, demons, and aliens. This broad spectrum of supernatural foes has always been part of the brand's charm.

Paranormal comes in many different flavors, and the creative team's ability to leverage this absurdity has always been accompanied by clever mythologies often pulled from the pages of Tobin's Spirit Guide. In the final episode of The Real Ghostbusters cartoon, we saw the team unravel a conspiracy involving a race of giant insectoid beings attempting to infiltrate our unstable universe from another dimension. Just one example of how fun and original the movies could get.

While Ghostbusters: Afterlife certainly delivered a sentimental love letter to the original film, some critics felt the movie relied too heavily on the mythology of the first film and missed the mark in introducing anything genuinely new. The previous film, Answer The Call, may have actually been more on point with bringing in new characters, enemies, and lore, but ultimately lost cohesion in the third act, as it became a bit too self-referential. The tricky balance of sci-fi horror/comedy may have leaned too shamelessly into the ladder, squandering the potential of the film's drama and plot. The movie also missed a glaring opportunity to connect itself to the original Ghostbusters universe but could be resolved in a sequel.

The cast is covered in slime in Ghostbusters
Columbia Pictures

Ghostbusters 2 perhaps remains the franchise's strongest follow-up. It wisely brought in a new iconic villain with Vigo the Carpathian, yet repeated the first film's plot to achieve a similar ride for the audience. While the movie's reception in 1989 was a bit lackluster, it aged well and has the luxury of being the most authentic sequel in the franchise to date. With a recent trailer dropping for the new video game, Ghost Busters: Spirits Unleashed, fans were quick to speculate on the canonical placement of the game. Many fans also claim Ghostbusters: The Video Game from 2009 is an official installment in the series, featuring the reprisal of all four main actors and more, though much of the events of the game do not sync up with the subsequent movies, and the plot once again rehashes everything from the first film.

Fan Service vs. Imagination

Ghostbusters Big Twinkie
Columbia Pictures

A consistent problem you often find in movie franchise installments is the reliance on already established, tried and true ingredients versus new ideas. It can be a tricky balance delivering something fresh to a fan base that has all kinds of preconceived notions about what it is they desire and expect from their favorite movie brands. Sequels come with a number of baked-in challenges that always seem to be tripping up studios that want to maximize profit margins while appeasing the masses. The current trend of releasing sequels without subtitles or installment numbers seems to be the latest trickery from marketing experts but ultimately confusing to the loyal fan bases. Movie connoisseurs are now forced to remember a year when the newest installment was released, as it bears the same title, which may or may not be a direct sequel or prequel. Hopefully, this pattern goes the way of the found footage genre, at rest in the Hollywood Forever cemetery of ideas.

Related: Ghostbusters: 2134 and What It Could Mean?

The balance of business and artistic expression will forever be struggling to co-exist in the film industry, but if there is power in consumer metrics. Rest assured, the most successful sequels in history were Avengers: Endgame, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Jurassic World. All of these films share a common bond in that they are distinct sequels with unique titles. They each progress the plot of their respective universes and build upon what consumers fell in love with in the first place. While Afterlife successfully achieved this, Answer The Call did not, which is the movie's biggest problem, but here is how it could be resolved.

Give The Ladies a Sequel

Ghostbusters: Answer the Call Director Blames Poor Reception on 2016 Candidacy
Sony Pictures Releasing

Yes, Answer the Call was a controversial entry in Ghostbusters mythos, but you know what they say about press. The provocative (and potentially brilliant) decision to recast the Ghostbusters with an all-female team broke the internet. The resolution to this contested blunder was already present in the marketing material for the film, which made a point to remind us that the events of the 1984 film had occurred. This set up an expectation that the two universes were somehow linked. Unfortunately, when the credits rolled on the 2016 film, this plot point was never addressed. Should the creative team have another chance at a follow-up feature, they would be wise to recall that crossing the streams atop Dana Barrett's apartment building was extremely risky business, which the films have never addressed. Egon's warning "It could be bad" could potentially take on multiple meanings. Perhaps "total protonic reversal" isn't so much destruction of cells but a multidimensional duplication of cells.

Related: Best Movies Featuring an Ensemble Cast of Women Characters

As Doctor Strange is about to discover in Multiverse of Madness, playing with the time-space continuum can have drastic consequences on the delicate nature of the universe. While bringing those streams together may give the Ghostbusters the upper hand in a moment of conflict with Gozer, the unforeseen consequences have yet to be divulged. This could set the stage for a Ghostbusters installment akin to Spider-man: No Way Home, which retroactively justified the existence of the Andrew Garfield films, bringing them into multiverse canon.

The Future is Bright

ghostbusters_afterlife
Columbia Pictures

With Winston leading an expanding Ghostbusters corporation, there is a bright future for the franchise, which could take shape in many forms. Honoring the brilliant creative work of everyone who has contributed to the franchise should be the objective for Ghost Corps, no matter what kind of toxic slime flows out of the internet. Neither Answer the Call or Afterlife are perfect films, but there is no reason to keep the creative juices from flowing out of Tobin's Spirit Guide. There are limitless possibilities for the addictive vibe of Ghostbusters. If the ladies return amidst a clever framework, you can rest assured that even the most unlikable internet troll with pink slime oozing out their ears will be in line, money in hand, to experience the next chapter.