Well beforePaul Feig’sGhostbustersopens July 15th, new Mattel toys on display at the New York Toy Fair may have given audiences their first looks at the film’s villains. The toys themselves won’t even be available until May, but this early look gives us glimpses of the title heroes in action figure form alongside some bizarre and terrifying ghosts. Feig himself previously mentioned that there’d be alotof toys on the way, that their team has been working on them since they started production on the film, and that they were important to him as a collector. In other words, these toys may be more film-accurate than a lot of other properties. That could end up being good and bad.
We’ve yet to hear confirmation from Feig or Sony, but it’s looking like this villain will be Rowan, a ghost rumored to be played byNeil Casey(Other Space). While preliminary details about the villain and how he fits into the plot were reportedly learned through hacked Sony emails, the Mattel rep at the Toy Fair confirmed that this pudgy, bow-tie-wearing ghost would indeed be the film’s main antagonist. And though he looks a lot like the franchise’sIcon Ghost, he might actually be a re-imagining of the comics characterRowan Schow. This Rowan was a magician whose spirit was entwined in an old film that, when watched, allowed Rowan and his minions to feed on the humans' belief, which granted them the power to wreak havoc in the real world. CouldGhostbustersbe presenting a spin on that idea?
Here’s a look at the film’s main villain (viaBMD):
Check out PixelDan’s video of the toys from the Mattel booth at New York’s Toy Fair:
Did you catch that very demonic looking character known only as Mayhem? Perhaps he’s one of the minions of Rowan who is unleashed upon New York City. Or maybe he’s just another toy dreamed up by the marketing department because he looks badass. Another potential unfriendly ghost in the film could be the one revealed by Funko’s Pop! line of toys, as revealed below (viaCBR):
Rowan looks a bit cuter here, while Gertrude Eldridge looks downright terrifying. This could easily just be a way for Funko and Sony to up the marketability of Rowan’s Ghost while having nothing to do with his on-screen portrayal. Or maybe Rowan is a misguided spirit who gets in over his head and inadvertently unleashes a torrent of much more malicious spirits on the world. We’ll find out for sure whenGhostbustersopens on July 15th.
Let us know your thoughts on these toys and what they mean for the movie in the comments! If you want more onGhostbusters, take a look at some of our recent coverage below:
