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Ghostbusters’ Ivan Reitman talks comics
Comic book multiverses are no longer the sole domain of superheroes, as IDW’s Ghostbusters 101 demonstrates. Featuring the first team-up of the paranormal investigators from 1984 with those of the 2016 reboot, the comic book has the approval of original director Ivan Reitman.
“I certainly argued against it and was overruled as far as starting again and not continuing the legacy,” Reitman tells us of Paul Feig’s movie. “I think that was finally what was disappointing about the film, as opposed to what the gender of the Ghostbusters was. My interest was always to have both genders represented as Ghostbusters. In fact the continuation that I’d worked on – until Harold Ramis unfortunately passed away – involved two young females as well as two young males. I liked the idea of continuing the story and I think the audience did. So I thought it was great to be able to try using the comic book, which has been very well liked and well regarded up till now, to see if we can bridge this gap.” Regarding the chemistry between the two teams, Reitman says, “I knew as soon as I read the first chapter it was gonna work, seeing the two different groups of characters work with each other, the most delightful of which is the Kate McKinnon character, Holtzmann, doing scenes with Spengler, Harold Ramis’s character. There’s this whole topspin of comedy beyond what we normally had. I said, ‘Oh, this is a good idea! We don’t have to have all eight of them all at once. Just think of them as an ensemble.’” Though Ghostbusters 101 wrapped up last month, a five-issue series based around the 2016 team, Ghostbusters: Answer The Call is on the way. Meanwhile, Reitman is focused on the franchise’s big-screen future. “We’re working really hard on two different Ghostbusters films for 2019 and 2020. We’re pounding away.”