At this year's San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige shocked everyone when he announced that Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy would team with Project Hail Mary star for a new Ghost Rider movie.
The 2028 release is quickly taking shape, as The Hollywood Reporter brings word today that Heated Rivalry breakout star Connor Storrie is in talks to play the reboot's villain.
There's no word on who the actor has been cast as, but the trade makes a point of noting that Mephisto (played by Sacha Baron Cohen in Ironheart) and his son, Blackheart, have frequently clashed with Johnny Blaze in the comic books.
After making his mark as Russian hockey phenomenon Ilya Rozanov in gay romantic hockey drama Heated Rivalry, Storrie earned an Emmy nomination for his work hosting Saturday Night Live. He's also been tapped for a starring role in Sarah Polley's The Bell Jar, so a major superhero role must have felt like the logical next step as his career continues taking off.
The report also reveals that Ghost Rider will shoot in New York next year, with Dune: Part Three's Linus Sandgren set to serve as the Director of Photography. Based on what we saw from today's trailer for that movie, this new take on the Spirit of Vengeance will look incredible.
Levy previously directed Deadpool & Wolverine for Marvel Studios and has worked with Gosling on the upcoming Star Wars: Starfighter. Their reunion will finally bring Ghost Rider into the MCU, not in a Midnight Sons movie as many fans expected, but a high-profile solo project. Jonathan Tropper (Star Wars: Starfighter) is writing the script.
Nicolas Cage played Johnny Blaze in 2007's Ghost Rider and reprised the role in 2012's Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. Neither film made much of an impact either critically or commercially, and the rights eventually reverted to Marvel Studios from Sony Pictures.
The upcoming reboot has been a long time coming, both in terms of Ghost Rider's MCU debut—outside of Robbie Reyes' role in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—and Gosling playing him.
"He's the perfect choice, first of all, because he's really passionate about playing the role, and that's something that matters; that passionate actors bring to these characters the love for the characters that we feel on-screen," Marvel Studios Casting Director Sarah Finn recently enthused. "And on top of that, he's an unbelievably talented and versatile actor."
"So, with the combination of Shawn Levy at the helm, I feel good about this. I feel good about our possibilities here," she added.
Ghost Rider is set to race into theaters on July 28, 2028.