RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Start your engines, Marvel fans, because Ghost Rider is coming back to the big screen. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige started off the company’s SDCC panel this weekend with a major announcement: Ryan Gosling will play the MCU’s Ghost Rider. The new film featuring the Spirit of Vengeance will be directed by Shawn Levy of Deadpool & Wolverine fame, and is set to be released in 2028. Suffice to say, this is a huge deal for the MCU, given Gosling’s star power and the fact that Ghost Rider hasn’t been seen in a movie since 2011’s ignominious Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, the second Ghost Rider film starring Nicolas Cage.
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But some big questions weren’t answered at the panel. Namely: which Ghost Rider is Gosling playing? Because there’s more than one (there’s actually quite a few ), although the obvious option is Johnny Blaze. However, the fact that Gosling’s character wasn’t confirmed does raise our eyebrows and makes us wonder if perhaps Marvel is going for a left-field choice. Let’s take a look at the comics and delve into the possibilities for the MCU’s Ghost Rider.
Johnny Blaze
Although Johnny Blaze is not technically the first character named Ghost Rider to appear in the comics (that honor goes to Carter Slade, a vigilante in the Old West who was later renamed the Phantom Rider), he is the most prominent. Blaze had a solo comic in the 1970s that ran for 80 issues, and would remain a recurring figure in the Marvel universe ever since, even as other Ghost Riders entered the fray. He was also adapted in the aforementioned pair of Nicolas Cage films, and has made numerous appearances in Marvel video games .
If you don’t know much about Johnny Blaze from the comics, the short version is that he’s a motorcycle stuntman who sold his soul to Satan (later retconned to be Mephisto ) in exchange for curing his mentor Crash Simpson of cancer, only for Crash to die in a stunt accident right after. When the devil came to collect, Blaze was saved by the love of his girlfriend Roxanne Simpson (Crash’s daughter) and bonded with a Spirit of Vengeance. Johnny got a flaming skull, a matching motorcycle, and even got to keep his soul, resulting in him using his demonic powers to enact Hell’s vengeance on evildoers who crossed his path.
While Marvel could do a straightforward Johnny Blaze origin movie, that might feel a bit simplistic at this point in the MCU. He also doesn’t have the strongest rogues gallery, so it’s hard to say who would be the villain besides Mephisto (unless Feige is really into the Orb or Steel Wind). If they want to go outside the box, they could always adapt the story by Jenny Blake Isabella where Blaze gets help from Jesus Christ. Yes, that really happened, even if editor Jim Shooter rewrote the ending against Isabella’s wishes. However, pairing Johnny up with another hero would make sense, especially if it was…
Danny Ketch
The next character to take up the Ghost Rider mantle was Daniel “Danny” Ketch, a teenager from Cypress Hills, New York, who debuted in 1990. While traveling to a graveyard alongside his sister Barbara, Danny wound up stumbling into a confrontation between rival gangs. Barbara was wounded in the crossfire, and while hiding with his unconscious sister, Danny discovered a motorcycle with a glowing gas cap. Upon touching it, he was imbued with the powers of the Ghost Rider and became the new Spirit of Vengeance. Barbara sadly didn’t survive after an encounter with the supernatural villain Blackout, who would become one of Danny’s greatest enemies.
The biggest reason why we think Danny is on the MCU's radar is because of the comic that featured Johnny and Danny working together. Danny is a key possibility for the MCU because of his importance in the comics. Not only did his solo comic last longer than Johnny’s and was arguably more popular with readers, it also introduced crucial aspects of the Ghost Rider mythology, such as the Penance Stare, powerful villains like Blackout and Deathwatch, and the fact that the Rider’s power can be transferred to different individuals. But the biggest reason why we think Danny is on the MCU’s radar is because of the Ghost Rider and Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance comic, a series that featured Johnny and Danny working together. The pair would later be revealed as half-brothers and also serve as founding members of the Midnight Sons, a team of supernatural antiheroes who came together to battle Lilith, the Mother of Demons.
A Ghost Rider movie featuring Johnny and Danny as co-leads feels more likely than a solo origin film at this point in the MCU. Perhaps Gosling as Johnny will serve as the mentor figure to a younger actor playing Danny. And as Marvel prepares to establish a new saga after wrapping up the Multiverse Saga with Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars, laying the groundwork for a Midnight Sons crossover movie could be the connecting thread of the next wave of MCU films.
Indeed, with the Blade solo movie reportedly dead, reports indicate that Feige and his team are developing a Midnight Sons movie featuring Mahershala Ali as the character instead. Could Gosling's Ghost Rider movie be the first step to making that a reality?
What About Robbie Reyes? And Cosmic Ghost Rider?
Of course, the elephant in the room is that there technically already is a Ghost Rider in the MCU: Robbie Reyes, played by Gabriel Luna, who appeared on Agents of SHIELD. That show has been ignored by the wider MCU (unfairly, in my opinion), but it did happen. Season 4 featured a brief appearance from Johnny Blaze, who passed on the Spirit of Vengeance to Robbie. Robbie went on to become a supporting character in the show. Is this event going to be retconned by the new film? Or will Robb...
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