Spoilers! How that 'Frozen Empire' ending, post-credits scene tease 'Ghostbusters' future

Spoiler alert: We're discussing important plot points and the ending of “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” (in theaters now), so beware if you haven’t seen it yet.

A new evil force brought the fight to the Ghostbusters’ own home in the latest franchise installment “Frozen Empire,” though a team-up of young and old faces was enough to win the day. Still, enough mayhem occurred to force consequences to face in future movies.

“Frozen Empire” returned the paranormal adventure to New York City – the setting of Ivan Reitman’s original 1984 “Ghostbusters” – and unleashed the villainous Garraka, an ancient spirit who wants to raise an undead army to take on humanity. Luckily, teenage Phoebe Spengler (Mckenna Grace) and her family of new Ghostbusters have help courtesy of OG heroes Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) and Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson).

Director Gil Kenan and his cast dig into what the “Frozen Empire” finale and an end-credits scene foretell of “Ghostbusters” future:

What happens in the ending of ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’?

When Garraka is freed from the brass orb housing him, the baddie ices over Manhattan and makes a beeline for the Ghostbusters’ firehouse headquarters. With the assistance of Nadeem (Kumail Nanjiani), whose grandmother had been in charge of the orb (and keeping Garraka imprisoned), the combined Ghostbusters defeat the demonic horned villain, though the ghost containment unit is destroyed and frees every spook and specter Venkman and Co. busted back in the day.

While not great for New York City, it does set a course for future franchise outings. “Look, when you've got a city full of ghosts, there's only one number you can call,” Kenan teases.

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Do any of the original 'Ghostbusters' cast die in ‘Frozen Empire’?

While franchise sequels do have a tendency to kill off key characters (see: “Star Wars”), no old favorites perish here – though you do worry about Ray for a bit. In one “Frozen Empire” scene, he wonders aloud to Phoebe what it would be like to be a ghost, and in the past, Aykroyd has mentioned dying in a sequel.

Kenan reports there was no alternate ending where Ray shuffles off this mortal coil. Instead, his musings are “thematically important” because of Phoebe's arc concerning her new phantom friend Melody (Emily Alyn Lind), the director says. “She has a particular curiosity to what it's like to be on the other side. That sensitivity is the thing being mined in the conversation with Ray.

“But if it creates a little bit of extra-dramatic stakes and heightened anxiety on the part of the audience, we'll take it.”

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Is there an end-credits scene in ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’?

Indeed, there is! As the credits roll alongside the familiar refrains of Ray Parker Jr.’s vintage “Ghostbusters” theme song, the screen cuts to a remote truck stop. A driver of a Stay Puft Marshmallow truck steps out of his semi to get gas and snacks but it starts rolling away, with the cute and chaotic Mini-Pufts (who first appeared in “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” and return in the new movie) hijacking the vehicle.

“We’ve got a feeling there are very specific stories in the future for those little bandits,” says Kenan, who wanted to nod to a bevy of potential supernatural threats. “Even though we've seen it beginning to spill out into the city again, it was important to tee up the fact that there are threads that run like ribbons in every direction out from this story.”

So, what should we expect in future ‘Ghostbusters’ movies?

Nothing’s set in stone yet, but the original stars have ideas for where to take the series. Aykroyd, who co-wrote the first two “Ghostbusters” movies with Harold Ramis, says he’s penned a “neat story” featuring Phoebe where the old guys have “stepped back a little” and “the kids have to handle things on their own. Hopefully we might make that in the next couple of years.”

And now that Hudson’s Winston is the wealthy head of the Ghostbusters franchise, the actor says he’d like to be a Nick Fury-type character in future movies, sending folks on missions around the world. “Every culture has its ghost stories. There are other places that have some unusual things going on.” A few possible spots: Africa or the Deep South, though Hudson personally would like to visit “some of those old castles in Europe,” he says. “I’d love to even see me, Bill and Danny actually get a chance to chase down some ghosts (again). We're still viable and still available.”