Which Ghost Rider Is Ryan Gosling Playing in the MCU? | Comic Con 2026

Start your engines, Marvel fans, due to the fact that Ghost Rider is coming backmost to the large screen. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige started disconnected the company’s SDCC sheet this play with a large announcement: Ryan Gosling volition play the MCU’s Ghost Rider. The caller movie featuring the Spirit of Vengeance volition beryllium directed by Shawn Levy of Deadpool & Wolverine fame, and is acceptable to beryllium released successful 2028. Suffice to say, this is simply a immense woody for the MCU, fixed Gosling’s prima powerfulness and the information that Ghost Rider hasn’t been seen successful a movie since 2011’s ignominious Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, the 2nd Ghost Rider movie starring Nicolas Cage.

But immoderate large questions weren’t answered astatine the panel. Namely: which Ghost Rider is Gosling playing? Because there’s much than 1 (there’s really rather a few), though the evident enactment is Johnny Blaze. However, the information that Gosling’s quality wasn’t confirmed does rise our eyebrows and makes america wonderment if possibly Marvel is going for a left-field choice. Let’s instrumentality a look astatine the comics and delve into the possibilities for the MCU’s Ghost Rider.

Johnny Blaze

Although Johnny Blaze is not technically the archetypal quality named Ghost Rider to look successful the comics (that grant goes to Carter Slade, a vigilante successful the Old West who was aboriginal renamed the Phantom Rider), helium is the astir prominent. Blaze had a solo comic successful the 1970s that ran for 80 issues, and would stay a recurring fig successful the Marvel beingness ever since, adjacent arsenic different Ghost Riders entered the fray. He was besides adapted successful the aforementioned brace of Nicolas Cage films, and has made galore appearances successful Marvel video games.

If you don’t cognize overmuch astir Johnny Blaze from the comics, the abbreviated mentation is that he’s a motorcycle stuntman who sold his psyche to Satan (later retconned to beryllium Mephisto) successful speech for curing his mentor Crash Simpson of cancer, lone for Crash to dice successful a stunt mishap close after. When the devil came to collect, Blaze was saved by the emotion of his woman Roxanne Simpson (Crash’s daughter) and bonded with a Spirit of Vengeance. Johnny got a flaming skull, a matching motorcycle, and adjacent got to support his soul, resulting successful him utilizing his demonic powers to enact Hell’s vengeance connected evildoers who crossed his path.

JESUS POPS BY TO ASSIST HIS FRIEND JOHNNY BLAZE.

While Marvel could bash a straightforward Johnny Blaze root movie, that mightiness consciousness a spot simplistic astatine this constituent successful the MCU. He besides doesn’t person the strongest rogues gallery, truthful it’s hard to accidental who would beryllium the villain too Mephisto (unless Feige is truly into the Orb oregon Steel Wind). If they privation to spell extracurricular the box, they could ever accommodate the communicative by Jenny Blake Isabella wherever Blaze gets assistance from Jesus Christ. Yes, that truly happened, adjacent if exertion Jim Shooter rewrote the ending against Isabella’s wishes. However, pairing Johnny up with different leader would marque sense, particularly if it was…

Danny Ketch

The adjacent quality to instrumentality up the Ghost Rider mantle was Daniel “Danny” Ketch, a teen from Cypress Hills, New York, who debuted successful 1990. While traveling to a graveyard alongside his sister Barbara, Danny coiled up stumbling into a confrontation betwixt rival gangs. Barbara was wounded successful the crossfire, and portion hiding with his unconscious sister, Danny discovered a motorcycle with a glowing state cap. Upon touching it, helium was imbued with the powers of the Ghost Rider and became the caller Spirit of Vengeance. Barbara sadly didn’t past aft an brushwood with the supernatural villain Blackout, who would go 1 of Danny’s top enemies.

The biggest crushed wherefore we deliberation Danny is connected the MCU's radar is due to the fact that of the comic that featured Johnny and Danny moving together.“

Danny is simply a cardinal anticipation for the MCU due to the fact that of his value successful the comics. Not lone did his solo comic past longer than Johnny’s and was arguably much fashionable with readers, it besides introduced important aspects of the Ghost Rider mythology, specified arsenic the Penance Stare, almighty villains similar Blackout and Deathwatch, and the information that the Rider’s powerfulness tin beryllium transferred to antithetic individuals. But the biggest crushed wherefore we deliberation Danny is connected the MCU’s radar is due to the fact that of the Ghost Rider and Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance comic, a bid that featured Johnny and Danny moving together. The brace would aboriginal beryllium revealed arsenic half-brothers and besides service arsenic founding members of the Midnight Sons, a squad of supernatural antiheroes who came unneurotic to conflict Lilith, the Mother of Demons.

A Ghost Rider movie featuring Johnny and Danny arsenic co-leads feels much apt than a solo root movie astatine this constituent successful the MCU. Perhaps Gosling arsenic Johnny volition service arsenic the mentor fig to a younger histrion playing Danny. And arsenic Marvel prepares to found a caller saga aft wrapping up the Multiverse Saga with Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars, laying the groundwork for a Midnight Sons crossover movie could beryllium the connecting thread of the adjacent question of MCU films.

Indeed, with the Blade solo movie reportedly dead, reports bespeak that Feige and his squad are processing a Midnight Sons movie featuring Mahershala Ali arsenic the quality instead. Could Gosling's Ghost Rider movie beryllium the archetypal measurement to making that a reality?

DANNY KETCH AS THE GHOST RIDER.

What About Robbie Reyes? And Cosmic Ghost Rider?

Of course, the elephant successful the country is that determination technically already is simply a Ghost Rider successful the MCU: Robbie Reyes, played by Gabriel Luna, who appeared connected Agents of SHIELD. That amusement has been ignored by the wider MCU (unfairly, successful my opinion), but it did happen. Season 4 featured a little quality from Johnny Blaze, who passed connected the Spirit of Vengeance to Robbie. Robbie went connected to go a supporting quality successful the show. Is this lawsuit going to beryllium retconned by the caller film? Or volition Robbie beryllium acknowledged successful immoderate capacity?

The astir apt result is that Secret Wars pulling a “reset” connected the MCU timeline volition let Marvel to bash immoderate they delight with Ghost Rider careless of the show’s events, but fixed that Robbie is 1 of the fewer Latino superheroes successful the Marvel universe, I judge it’s a mistake to propulsion him retired entirely.

And lastly, there’s Cosmic Ghost Rider. Now, this is astir surely not the protagonist of the caller film, but he’s worthy a notation for however weird helium is. Cosmic Ghost Rider is really a variant of Frank Castle, aka the Punisher, who made a woody with Mephisto aft his decease and was aboriginal granted cosmic powerfulness by Galactus. Instead of warring a warfare connected criminals, Cosmic Ghost Rider’s ngo was to avenge the execution of everyone connected Earth by his universe’s mentation of Thanos. He would aboriginal transverse betwixt realities and conscionable characters from the 616 universe. As hilarious arsenic it would beryllium to spot Ryan Gosling successful Cosmic Ghost Rider’s costume (and however huffy Jon Bernthal would presumably be), we’re reasonably definite this peculiar leader isn’t riding into the MCU anytime soon. But who knows? Maybe by Phase 15, we’ll get to spot Space Frank Castle successful action.

Who bash you privation to spot arsenic Ghost Rider successful the MCU? Let america cognize successful the comments and ballot successful our poll!

Carlos Morales writes novels, articles, and Mass Effect essays. You tin travel his fixations connected Twitter.