Is this silly Ghostbusters toy our first look at the movie’s villain?

Last Updated on July 22, 2021

I know you the majority of you guys aren’t incredibly excited about Paul Feig’s upcoming GHOSTBUSTERS, but this is something that might be of interest. A fellow named “pixeldan” was perusing Toy Fair in Manhattan just the other day when he spied a bevy of Ghostbusters toys, the most interesting of which is “Rowan,” said to be the film’s main baddie. Take a look below.

Confirmed at #Mattel this morning that this is the main villain in the new #Ghostbusters movie. #ToyFair #TF16 #NYTF

A photo posted by “Pixel Dan” Eardley (@pixeldan) on Feb 15, 2016 at 10:58am PST

PixelDan confirmed with a Mattel rep that the character’s name is Rowan and he’s the movie’s main bad guy.

Last summer it was revealed comedian Neil Casey had been cast as a GHOSTBUSTERS villain named Rowan; I had initially assumed he’d be played a jerky human who tries to stop the Ghostbusters, but perhaps Casey will be donning a motion-capture suit to play a pissed off phantom?

As for the design itself, everyone is noting that it looks like an evil version of the Ghostbusters logo. And that cannot be denied. However, the folks at Collider, who are way more knowledgable about such things than I am, have this theory:

…he might actually be a re-imagining of the comics character Rowan 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.

That’s an intriguing scenario. And let’s not forget this is just a toy; I’m willing to bet the movie version is a bit more vivid. Whatever the case, we’ll find out the truth on July 15th… whether you like it or not.