Nicolas Cage played Johnny Blaze in two critically panned Marvel movies: 2007's Ghost Rider and 2012 sequel Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. Both efforts had some redeeming qualities, though no one was exactly dying for a threequel after that last effort.
The legendary actor's quirky take on the character resonated with many fans and a recent rumour suggested there are plans in place for Cage to reprise the role "sooner than you think."
We'll see, but in a new interview with Uproxx, Cage talked openly about whether he'd be open to playing a character like Ghost Rider again at a point in his career when he's mulling over a move to television.
"Well, like I said, it’s going to be a very severe and stringent selection process. I’m not saying no entirely. I’m saying if something came along that I thought had some pop to it, some spark to it, that maybe could be fun for folks to revisit, like a Face/Off 2 or Ghost Rider, that’s another conversation. But I mean, that’s not going out and finding a brand new bit of material and trying something else. I’m still developing my ideas about all this. Who knows what will really happen?"
"But when we had that conversation back in 2012 or whenever it was, I never thought I would say this, what I’m saying now, that I’m ready to explore television. But probably because the TV wasn’t there yet. And also because I was a true blue film actor and I never thought I’d want to do anything else. But so many changes are happening in my industry."
"And there’s AI and these things. And also the internet mashups and the viral stuff that’s going on and how the performances are being received. There was a big article in The New Yorker today that came out by Isaac Butler - and he wasn’t necessarily wrong about what he said about how the internet can reduce people to a punchline, which was not what I signed up for when I decided to be a film actor."
There have been rumblings for a while now that Marvel Studios is developing a Ghost Ride TV show for Disney+, but if we had to hazard a guess, Cage will be among the actors who appear in next year's Deadpool 3.
The movie is expected to take the Merc with the Mouth and Wolverine on a trip through the Multiverse, with both the original X-Men and Jennifer Garner's Elektra already all but confirmed to show up. Why not add Cage's Ghost Rider to the mix? Failing that, the next Avengers movies are another possibility.
We don't anticipate Cage playing Johnny on Earth-616 unless it's for a passing of the torch with Danny Ketch or Robbie Reyes. The latter already appeared in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., while Danny played a role in Spirit of Vengeance, so Marvel Studios may choose to put a new spin on the original Ghost Rider.
Would you like to see Cage's Ghost Rider ride again?