Netflix’s ‘Ghostbusters: Night Shift’ Series Promises the Franchise’s Scariest, Funniest Return Yet

For years, fans begged for a true sequel to the original Ghostbusters films. After the misguided reboot directed by Paul Feig, Sony Pictures recalibrated the franchise and delivered two canon sequels that finally bridged the gap between the first two films. But while Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan were developing those movies, they realized there was an entire decade of Ghostbusters history nobody had explored.

That missing chapter became Ghostbusters: Night Shift, the new animated series debuting on Netflix this fall. An animated feature is also in development, but Night Shift is first out of the gate, and the first images and story details have finally arrived.

Now, in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Reitman and Kenan revealed that the series was actually born while writing Ghostbusters: Afterlife. As Reitman explained, they started asking themselves where Phoebe’s proton pack came from before realizing they had stumbled onto a much bigger mystery. “Wait a second, what about that whole decade in between? What happened in the ’90s?” Reitman told the site. “That was the birth of this show.”

Even more exciting is the tone they’re chasing.

Anyone expecting another version of The Real Ghostbusters cartoon is apparently in for a surprise. Reitman joked to THR that fans who think they’re getting an ’80s-style animated series “are in for a surprise,” promising that Ghostbusters: Night Shift is “funnier” and “scarier,” adding that it captures what made the 1984 film so special by letting audiences think they’re in for a few laughs before it “spooks the shit out of you.”