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By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
It’s been a pretty weird decade to be a Ghostbusters fan. Paul Feige’s all-female movie was supposed to reboot the franchise for modern audiences and make the franchise mainstream again. Instead, it became a firestorm of controversy, and we eventually got Ghostbusters: Afterlife. While it was more about Spielbergian wonder than cynical wisecracks, Afterlife appealed to the old-school fans, earning enough money to warrant a sequel: Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. However, Frozen Empire was a crowded, somewhat sloppy film that cost more and made less than Afterlifeleaving the future of the franchise uncertain.
Now, the latest iteration of Ghostbusters will be on the small screen rather than the big screen. A new, animated show is launching on Netflix in 2027, and fans have been eager to hear more about what this cartoon will be about. Recently, Sony unveiled the show’s logo as well as its provocative new name, Ghostbusters: Night Shift. Many are buzzing with excitement, but some can’t help but ask the obvious question: “wait, that’s it?” This cartoon has been in the works for several years now, and the fact that it is still so shrouded in mystery is starting to feel like a very, very bad sign.
A New Take On A Classic Logo
When Sony unveiled the logo for Ghostubers: Night Shiftfans were divided. On the one hand, it’s nice that this logo shares so much in common with the original film logo; most reboots and revivals change so much that we love, so it’s nice to know that this upcoming cartoon isn’t shaking things up too much. On the other hand, the new logo is so close to the original logo that it seems almost odd that they changed it. The changes are also so odd and minimalist (like yellowed teeth and a beastly claw on the ghost) that it seems like a borderline AI creation. The prompt? “Make the Ghostbusters logo look scary.”
Additionally, the subtitle “Night Shift” has caused speculation about who the core Ghostbusters team will be and what the show will be about. The name implies that the cartoon likely won’t follow the original Ghostbusters, who (in addition to being very old) didn’t answer many calls in the wee hours. The show is also unlikely to follow the core crew of Aferlife and Frozen Empire. It’s possible that the new show will go full meta and feature the Ghostbusters as an in-universe franchise. Therefore, we might be following a new team of a local Ghostbusters branch, one that covers the titular night shift.
Trusted Names And Plenty Of Secrets
Aside from the new name and new logo, we know very little about Ghostbusters: Night Shift. The show will be a Netflix exclusive and is set to premiere in 2027, though an exact release date remains unknown. It’s not entirely clear what kind of animation style we are likely to see, either. While the smart money is on the show having the uncanny, CGI-animated look of Netflix’s Stranger Things cartoon, the show may end up with a more traditional 2D style, like the streamer’s steadily-growing list of exclusive anime titles. One thing we do know about Ghostbusters: Night Shiftthough, is that it is being made by some names we can trust.
The show is being executive-produced by Dan Aykroyd, the franchise star who originally came up with the idea of the Ghostbusters in the first place. Other EPs include Jason Reitman, Gil Kenan, both of whom co-wrote Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. Finally, Elliott Kalan is serving as writer and co-showrunner of this new cartoon; if his name doesn’t ring a bell, Kalan has written for The Daily Show and Mystery Science Theater 3000and he’s the motormouthed, show-stealing cohost of the hit podcast The Flophouse. Kalan is also a comics writer who gave us the often-memed scene where the villainous Sauron tells Spider-Man he’d rather turn people into dinosaurs than cure cancer.
Akyroyd is the OG talent, Reitman is the shepherd of the modern movies, and Kalan is the passionate fan working on his dream franchise. Together, they might just have what it takes to make Ghostbusters: Night Shift into Netflix’s latest killer cartoon. Otherwise, this beloved franchise may fade away and become the worst kind of ghost: one that nobody even cares about watchingmuch less busting.
