We've been hearing rumors that Ryan Reynolds was in talks to play Ghost Rider for quite a while, and the news was made official during Marvel Studios' San Diego Comic-Con panel on Saturday.
Though he will likely be a part of the planned Midnight Sons movie, the Project Hail Mary star will debut as the flame-headed Spirit of Vengeance in a new solo Ghost Rider project from director Shawn Levy (Deadpool and Wolverine, Star Wars: Starfighter), and the movie will ride into theaters in 2028. Starfighter writer Jonathan Tropper has been enlisted to pen the script.
Several characters have held the Ghost Rider mantle in the comics over the years, including Johnny Blaze, Robbie Reyes, Danny Ketch, Alejandra Jones, Michael Badilino, and Kushala. Nicolas Cage played Blaze in two poorly-received movies, and more recently, Gabriel Luna portrayed Reyes in the now-defunct Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series.
THR's report on Gosling's casting mentions that he will play Blaze, but this was not disclosed at SDCC, and Kevin Feige declined to clarify which version of the character will be introduced in the movie during a post-panel interview.
“I am going to let Ryan reveal what he wants to reveal, when he wants to reveal it, and what he wanted to reveal today is…he’s playing Ghost Rider. He is a huge fan of the comics; he did come to us particularly with a specific vision, based on some particular comics.”
During a follow-up interview with Empire, Feige revealed that it was Gosling himself who came up with this new "vision" for Ghost Rider.
“It was Gosling who had the vision. It was Gosling who had the pitch that won over Shawn, that had them come and pitch us this idea, which led to us on stage today.”
Marvel's head honcho also reiterated Marvel's "quality over quantity" mantra, confirming that no movies will be released between Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars.
“A lot of it is a strategy we’ve talked about for a while, of focusing on quality,” he said. “We always try to focus on quality, but when quantity is so much, you get spread thin. We didn’t want to be spread thin, and the Avengers is as important as it comes. And Secret Wars, in particular for Empire readers, who know the comics, is a setup in and of itself to the future, to what’s next. So really, it was landing those two movies and setting up 2028, of which we’ve revealed two of them so far, Ghost Rider and Panther III.”
Cinemagoers will get their Marvel fix when Spider-Man: Brand New Day hits theaters this weekend. First reactions are expected to land online following the world premiere later tonight, so be sure to keep an eye out.