Olivia Wilde’s Ghostbusters Character Originally Looked Way Different, See The Pic
They show the film's two main characters looking back at Gozer, who looks much more like a ghostly spirit and less like Olivia Wilde.
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Olivia Wilde surprised audiences when she appeared as Gozer the Gozerian in Ghostbusters: Afterlife. She took the role as an uncredited part, so her name never appeared on the posters and not much was said leading up to her big appearance as the classic villain. As it turns out, the original concept art for the movie reveals a very different take on her character.
Moving Picture Company Film has released a few pieces of concept art focused on the Ghostbusters villain. The pictures were released via Collider. They show the film’s two main characters looking back at Gozer, who looks much more like a ghostly spirit and less like Olivia Wilde.
You can see a close-up image of the Ghostbusters concept art with the original take on Olivia Wilde’s character below.
The release of the concept art didn’t come with any notes on why they decided to change Gozer’s look. Ghostbusters has established that Gozer can take different forms. They could look like the terrifying ghost above, like a glowing skull, or like Olivia Wilde.
This early concept art would have been a lot scarier than the image they eventually used. Ghostbusters: Afterlife leans heavily on nostalgia, so it makes sense that they would want Gozer to look more like they did in the first film, in part to make recognizing Gozer easier for the established audience. It also makes sense that they’d want her to be a little less terrifying since Afterlife was intended for a younger market. The Jason Reitman film looked to pass the franchise on to a younger generation. That falls more in line with the look they eventually decided on for Olivia Wilde’s character. You can see the actress in full-body makeup in the behind-the-scenes picture from her makeup artist below.
Olivia Wilde hasn’t spoken much about her role. Ghostbusters: Afterlife is a true sequel, unlike the 2016 movie. The story is meant to be the third film in the franchise. While it takes place in the midwest instead of in New York City like the original films, and follows much younger characters, it brings in elements like the first movie’s villain in order to cement those story connections. Olivia Wilde’s Gozer the Gozerian was played by Slavitza Jovan in the first film. You can see them in all of their original glory in the first movie’s big fight scene below.
Olivia Wilde’s Gozer clearly calls back to this original take. This seems to be similar to how Jason Reitman wants to approach the next Ghostbusters movie, if he gets a chance to make that film. The director recently claimed that if he gets the chance to make another film for the franchise, his intention is to bring back the villain Vigo the Carpathian from Ghostbusters II. He announced this during an interview with the Happy Sad Confused podcast. So far, the studio hasn’t announced plans for Reitman to make another sequel, but it does seem likely with Reitman already teasing ideas for the next one.
