Ghostbusters characters detailed; Bill Murray sought for non-Venkman role

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

So now that we know that Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones will be starring in Paul Feig's GHOSTBUSTERS, some might be wondering what characters these ladies will be playing. HitFix has dug into the script and revealed a few details, including a role for original Ghostbuster Bill Murray, and we've got the good below.

The new cast is not meant to simply be female versions of Venkman, Spengler, Stantz, and Zeddmore, but instead are totally different characters thrown into a similar type of ghostly situation as the original team of 'Busters. The site breaks down the new Ghostbusting team as:

• Erin Gabler is an academic on the tenure track at Columbia. Her former colleague and co-author is…
• Abby Bergman, who’s more on the pop parapsychology side of things, and pursues ghosts for a living.
• Jillian is Abby’s ghost hunting partner.
• Patty is an MTA employee who comes across the main ghost.

It isn't yet known which actress will play each part, but you can probably guess on a couple of them based on the comedic stylings of the cast.

It's also revealed that the primary antagonist is a “creepy mechanical genius.” It has been rumored that Peter Dinklage is wanted for this role.

Even more interesting is that Bill Murray is being sought for a role, but it's not Peter Venkman. Instead, Feig wants him to play another antagonist of the all-female GHOSTBUSTERS in the form of Martin Heiss, "a professional supernatural debunker," who crosses paths with the women when they post footage online and sets out to prove they are fakes. Sounds like a real douchebag kind of character, kind of like William Atherton's Walter Peck from the first film.

Murray has shown support for the all-female reboot of GHOSTBUSTERS, but hasn't put in definite terms whether or not he'd return for another film. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.