Slimer is perhaps the most recognizable character from Ghostbusters outside of the actual Ghostbusters logo. The slimy, green ghost is a fan favorite. After rising to popularity in the animated series and landing an awesome gig as the face of Hi-C’s Ecto Cooler (remember that stuff?), it only makes sense for the ghost to return in the reboot.
Slimer’s origins were something the original Ghostbusters films never addressed. I guess we never really questioned why a ghost made entirely out of ectoplasm existed because so many wacky things happened in the movie’s universe, but Slimer does have an origin story. You just won’t see it in the reboot!
According to Ghostbusters co-writer Katie Dippold, Slimer was actually created by the Ghostbusters themselves. During a Los Angeles press day for the reboot, she spoke about how an earlier draft of the film included the creation story of our favorite green ghost.
“We debated showing the creation of Slimer,” she said. “There was even a scene once where they are battling an old Italian ghost, but they’re still figuring out the proton packs. So when they fire at it, he just becomes Slimer.”
There you have it! Slimer was created in error, but you’d never know it because the scene was cut from the movie. The decision rested on Paul Feig, the film’s director. He felt like creating an explanation for a previously-existing character was over-stepping his bounds. Dippold explained their decision.
“It was just like, ‘I don’t know if it feels right to answer what Slimer is when it was created before.’ So that didn’t feel quite right. But then it was like, ‘Okay, so then do we take it out?’ And then it was like, ‘Well, I just want to see Slimer, so…'”
We might not officially see how Slimer came to be, but he definitely has a role in the movie. You can watch Slimer and the Ghostbusters girls when the film hits theaters on July 15th.
