We always knew Marvel Studios’ big Hall H return was going to be hot — but we didn’t know it would be blazing. Or, indeed, Johnny Blaze-ing. Yes, after years of rumours and whispers (and Ryan Gosling campaigning fairly publicly), it is official: Ghost Rider is coming to the MCU. And Ryan Gosling is going to be picking up Nic Cage’s chains to play Johnny Blaze. And, what’s more, the Gosman’s Star Wars Starfighter director Shawn Levy is set to direct the Spirit of Vengeance’s Marvel Cinematic Universe debut. Check out the title treatment below;
Oh boy — is it just us or is that a scorching hot title treatment? Sure, past outings for Johnny Blaze — 2007’s Ghost Rider and its 2012 sequel, Spirit Of Vengeance — may not have exactly set the world (or even the box office) on fire, but this is very exciting news. We know Gosling has the motorcycle/action man chops (see also: The Place Beyond The Pines, The Fall Guy). We know Shawn Levy can handle a big MCU blockbuster (see: Deadpool & Wolverine). And we know that Johnny Blaze is long overdue a cinematic treatment worthy of a character who literally sold his soul to the devil, has a flaming skull for a head, and wields literal hellfire. So this very much feels like the perfect convergence of very cool people doing some very cool things.
We don’t know anything else about what Levy’s Ghost Rider has in store for us just yet (and, technically, we guess Gosling may yet wind up playing one of Ghost Rider’s other comings, Danny Ketch or Donnie Reyes — though we doubt he’d pass up playing Blaze), but we do know that Gosling and Levy are heading straight from Starfighter to get to work on this, and we have a release year: 2028. So be prepared for another flaming Johnny to make their long-awaited MCU debut in the next couple of years. More from Marvel’s SDCC panel coming just as soon as we get it…
