The new “Ghostbusters” movie is out and it is one hell of a ride! Filled with laughs, action and an interesting new story, this reboot of the 1984 phenomenon is worth both ticket price and a copy of the film on DVD. Personally, I think “Ghostbusters 2016” is just as good as the original “Ghostbusters,” and it takes a lot for me to say something like that!

I have become so invested in this franchise again that I’ve had a theory kicking around in my head pertaining to a few familiar faces appearing in the film. We all knew that Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson of the original films would be making cameos in the new movie, but they wouldn’t be playing their roles of Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz and Winston Zeddemore…or would they?

While Columbia Pictures and reboot director Paul Feig have come out to say that this new "Ghostbusters" is a reboot, a few things have come up to make me ask if there is direct connection between the original "Ghostbusters" and the new "Ghostbusters."

In other words, what if “Ghostbusters 2016” is really a sequel?

If you haven’t seen the new movie, spoilers do lie ahead. You have been warned. With that out of the way, let’s bust this theory open!

Now, I could easily mention the end credits sequence where we see the title “Ghostbusters: Answer the Call,” but that’d be too easy. No, I want to take a look at something else, three people who started the entire business of busting ghosts: Peter Venkmen, Raymond Stantz, Egon Spengler and Winston Zeddemore.

It’s no surprise that Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson cameo in this film. It wasn’t just a treat, but, to some, an expectation. These characters, however, serve more of a purpose

Kicking off with Murray, we see that his character is a professional “hoax” detective, who deems the girls’ footage as fake and a staged act for attention. He’s already dismissing their deed without much thought or evidence as to why he thinks that way. Sound familiar yet? Later on, he visits the girls and tries to provoke them to show him the ghost they captured, leading to his death.

What makes this critic likely to be Venkmen is in the behavior and thought patterns. He doesn’t seem to give much thought into his decision. And why would he go visit the team other than to instigate them? It wasn’t just for instigation. He was challenging them. Assuming this is Venkmen, he would most likely be challenging them as a warning, a warning that they don’t know what they’re getting into. He knows something they don’t. Had he been alive, we may have learned something vital about what’s to come. Could it have been about the Architect, or something bigger? Either way, he appears calm and reserved, but a little troubled.

In contrast to Venkmen, we find a taxi driver whom Gilbert approaches as the ghosts invade Manhattan. As she tries to warn him of what’s about to happen, he interrupts her and kind of ignores the ensuing chaos. But, before he drives off, he utters, “Besides, I ain’t afraid of no ghosts.” Entertaining callback, or a case of repression? Could this taxi driver be Stantz living a life in denial? Affected by the loss of Spengler, Stantz went into hiding and now chooses to live a life of denial, even when it is clear a specter is present. Not as complicated as Venkmen, but still just as mysterious, given how little we see Stantz.

Then, we have Zeddemore, who may have more to do with the past than we may think. At the end of the film, we learn he is Patty's uncle, who lends them a hearse from his funeral home for the Ghostbusters to use. Again, we see familiar speech and behavior patterns. But, what's he doing running a funeral home? You'd think he'd be the taxi driver with his knowledge of Manhattan.

That covers three of the members, but what about Spengler? I know Harold Ramis couldn’t be in the reboot, rest in peace, but let’s think about why Venkmen and Stantz refuse to acknowledge the paranormal and why Zeddemore runs a funeral home. Something must have happened to Spengler to turn the others around to become the way they now are, something so catastrophic that we now have no clue about Spengler or his whereabouts because of Venkmen and Stantz acting so weird and Zeddemore having little screen time to even say anything significant.

We'll find out next week for Part 2!