As a proud member of the Phandom, I am morally obligated to have at least some ideas of my own for a reboot. God knows I have a lot, in fact. Now, bear with me because this admittedly changes quite a few things from the original plot, but I do think it could offer some depth and intriguing plotlines, and tie both sets of trios together.
Take it or leave it, please hear me out.
We all know one of the reasons Jack and Maddie were believed to be a little kooky at the beginning of the show is because the vast majority of the population didn't think ghost existed. Just like we know they had never actually even seen a ghost prior to Mystery Meat. We also know Danny keeps his secret hidden from them out of fear of being dissected.
But what if the Fentons' behaviour wasn't so unfounded after all even before Mystery Meat? What if they study/hate ghosts because they know from provable fact they exist and genuinely believe they're evil?
This is where Danny, Sam, and Tucker being so similar to Jack, Maddie, and Vlad when they were in college would play a very important part, story-wise. A part that would allow for shocking revelations down the line.
What I'm trying to say is, what if instead of hiding his secret for 20 years, Vlad had actually gone to Jack and Maddie for help with his ecto-acne and subsequent ghost half and Team Plasmius actually was a thing?
The fact that they knew about Jack Plasmius and Vlad and Maddie ran away because Vlad lied in the Masters of All Time timeline already indicates that, had Vlad simply come forward with his secret, they would have most likely accepted him.
From an audience perspective, don't tell me it wouldn't be a major revelation to find out Danny and his friends are accidentally following in his parents and Vlad's footsteps by being a group of amateurs ghost hunters where one of them was half-ghost. Kind of like when it was revealed in Scooby-Doo Mystery Inc. that the gang was actually the latest iteration in a long line of mystery solvers.
Moreover, not only would it add another layer to the fact that Jack and Maddie were right all along about ghosts existing, but it'd also add a whole lot of heartbreak to their backstory.
In the show, Plasmius brought out the worst in Vlad, but those flaws and selfish desires were always there, as evidenced in the alternative timeline.
Things could start out relatively great for the college trio. Working together to help Vlad master his ghost powers, investigating weird, possibly-paranormal occurrences going around campus and beyond, and simply being the best of friends. However, Vlad's darker side would keep bubbling up beneath the surface, growing harder to ignore the more powerful he became and the more entitled it made him.
He's the one with physics-defying ghost powers. Why shouldn't he use them to make himself rich and famous?
He's far superior to the rest of humanity. Why should he waste his time protecting people from the sidelines, when they should be worshipping him like a god?
He already has the best of both worlds, power beyond mortal comprehension. Why stop there? What else has he been missing out on because of his limited, human perspective?
Now matter how you look at it, he's the far better choice. Why does Maddie only have eyes for Jack?!
The real kicker would come from the fact that even as Jack and Maddie watch how their old friend is being twisted into this selfish, power-hungry monster, they still fail to realise that was all Vlad's doing. They come to believe the accident didn't fuse his ADN with ectoplasm, after all, rather, it got him possessed by an evil ghost!
That's the trigger that convinces the Fentons that all ghosts are evil and must be stopped, because of what one of them did to their best friend. That's what prompts them to run away and never look back as they start over, start a family, start up FentonWorks and devote their lives to studying ghosts and finding ways to stop them from doing any more harm.
And for 20 years, they would live in relative peace, with no more reported ghost sightings. But the fear and paranoia would still be there, brewing under the surface. With the sudden appearance of a white-haired, green-eyed young ghost unleashing all that pent-up trauma and hatred.
Of course, under these circumstances, the beginning of Danny and Vlad's enmity would change greatly. I haven't given it much thought, but I have two possibilities:
Danny actually meets Vlad/Plasmius one day by chance, with his nature as a half-ghost intriguing Vlad enough to still offer him to act as his mentor, even if this time around he doesn't necessarily know he's Maddie and Jack's son. At first, Danny would be elated at the idea, and maybe we could have a mini-arc where he is indeed shown training under Vlad's wing. Until Vlad's true colours are revealed, Danny denounces him as his mentor, and their rivalry is sparked. Or... Bitter Reunions still happens, except Vlad reaches out to Maddie and Jack by lying to them about the horrible ghost that possessed him having been banished at last, and how he wishes to reconnect with his oldest and best friends. The Fentons, desperate to get their friend back, believe him. And because they never told their children about their youth (which would have the fortunate side-effect of making Jazz's line about how they never tell Danny about their childhood or where they went to college all the more poignant and meaningful in a retrospective kinda way), Danny is fully unprepared yet again to meet up with Plasmius, who'd probably be much more cautious than ever about being seen by Jack and Maddie. And Danny's blackmail about exposing each other's secrets would gain much more weight if Vlad suddenly has that much more to lose.
Now, it doesn't escape me how this is all quite angsty and has the potential to make Danny's situation with his parents a million times worse. However, I also think I have the perfect way to give this a bittersweet resolution.
And that's by Jack and Maddie eventually learning Danny's secret.
Sure, it'd be a lot to process at first, going after your own son alongside the lingering fear that history will repeat itself and an evil ghost will take over their boy and change him forever. But seeing all of Danny's heroics, all the good he's been doing since the beginning, even when everyone was against him, seeing how he's still the wonderful boy they raised... I think it would make them realise that being half-ghost has nothing to do with someone's character. That the ghosts were never at fault for what happened to Vlad.
Vlad became a monster because that inner darkness was already there. The accident didn't put it there, if anything, it gave him the push he needed to let it out.
(This would also serve the purpose of being a much more sobering cautionary tale for Danny, too. In the end, abusing his powers and thinking himself above others because of them robbed Vlad of everything that was truly important and caused years of pain and suffering. Does Danny really want to risk following the same fate just for short-term gratification?)
Anyway, this got long. As I said, a lot might change, but I think it could also be very promising. Let me know what y'all think!
