Marvel Studios recently released a montage video featuring some of the more hair-raising moments from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to mark this weekend's Halloween celebrations, and one quick shot right at the end has some fans convinced that the studio is teasing the MCU debut of a certain Spirit of Vengeance.
The video features clips from the likes of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Moon Knight, Werewolf By Night, Loki season 2 (Miss Minutes' going all giant "Ghost Clock" and chasing people through the streets) Thor: The Dark World, and Ant-Man (it'll make sense when you watch), and concludes with "treat yourself to a happy Halloween" voiceover and a brief glimpse of a chain flying past the lettering.
While Ghost Rider isn't the only Marvel Comics character to utilize chains as part of his arsenal, he is arguably the most well-known, and the flame-headed, supernatural hero would certainly fit in with the horror theme here.
Granted, this might be a bit of a stretch, but we can't think of anything else the chain could possibly signify. Maybe it's a complete coincidence, and they just added it in because... chains are scary?
Rumors of an MCU Ghost Rider reboot have been doing the rounds for quite a while, and picked up steam following the release of last year's Werewolf By Night Special Presentation. A Midnight Sons project is said to be in the early stages of development (again, just a rumor), and with Marvel Studios beginning to explore the darker corners of the MCU, we can't see Kevin Feige and co. leaving Ghost Rider on the shelf for too much longer.
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.
Luna was all set to reprise the role for a solo series, but the project was shelved after the Marvel Television banner was disbanded.
What do you make of this? Is Marvel hinting at Ghost Rider's imminent MCU debut, or are people reading way too much into an errant chain? Have another look at the video below, and be sure to let us know in the comments section.