Dan Aykroyd Considers His ‘Casper’ Cameo Part Of ‘Ghostbusters’ Canon: “No Doubt”

Despite the apparent 30-year gap in their resume, Dan Aykroyd‘s Ghostbusters character was still booked in the 1990s.

The Emmy winner, who co-created the franchise with Harold Ramis and plays paranormal expert Dr. Ray Stantz, recently confirmed that the character’s cameo in 1995’s Casper is included in the 40-year Ghostbusters canon.

“I think so, given the fact that [Steven] Spielberg asked for me and said, ‘Come and do this,’ and that they built me in there,” said Aykroyd on the Talking Strange podcast. “Of course, it’s a beautiful nod to what we were doing with Ivan [Reitman] and everybody. I think you gotta include there in the canon, no doubt.”

In the Brad Silberling-helmed Casper, the titular friendly ghost’s Maine estate is inherited by the wealthy heiress Carrigan (Cathy Moriarty), who hires a series of specialists to cleanse the house of spirits. One such contractor is Dr. Stantz, who runs out the front door in his iconic khaki jumpsuit.

“Who you gonna call?” he starts, referencing the Ghostbusters’ theme song. “Someone else.”

After starring in the Reitman-helmed Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters II (1989), alongside Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson and Ramis, Aykroyd reprised his role as Stantz in Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024). He also made a cameo as a taxi driver in the 2016 female-led Ghostbusters reboot.