Marvel Studios has announced that a Ghost Rider movie starring Ryan Gosling will be released in theaters in 2028. No plot details have been revealed, and as of now, we don't know whether the Barbie star is playing Johnny Blaze or Danny Ketch.
It seems safe to assume that Sacha Baron Cohen will reprise his Ironheart role as Mephisto. However, even that's not guaranteed, as it turns out Gosling approached Marvel Studios with a very specific story arc in mind for the MCU's Spirit of Vengeance.
Talking to ComicBook.com after the studio's Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con, Kevin Feige teased, "I am gonna let Ryan reveal what he wants to reveal when he wants to reveal it...he's a huge fan of the comics. He did come to us particularly with a specific vision based on some particular comics, but I'll let him reveal that."
Johnny and Danny are the two most iconic Ghost Riders, but their origins differ significantly. Blaze, a motorcycle stunt rider, became the Ghost Rider after making a deal with Mephisto to save his adoptive father, bonding with the demon Zarathos.
Danny Ketch, meanwhile, gained the Spirit of Vengeance after discovering a mystical motorcycle and was later revealed to have a supernatural connection to the Ghost Rider legacy. While Blaze is more anti-heroic and tormented, Ketch is often portrayed as a more traditional superhero.
Elsewhere on the red carpet, Feige confirmed that Nova will be a movie and broke his silence on complaints from fans that Avengers: Doomsday big bad Doctor Doom hasn't received the same level of build-up as Thanos heading into 2018's Avengers: Infinity War.
"The Thanos buildup has built up in people’s heads over the years," the executive stated. "He sat on a chair at the end. He put on a gauntlet and said, 'I’ll do it myself.' And he yelled at Ronin on a video screen briefly."
"When we got to Infinity War, we said this is really the introduction of Thanos," Feige added. "Doomsday is an introduction and the story of Doom. You peel the onion, you learn things about him."
Feige isn't wrong. Thanos only appeared briefly in the post-credits scenes for The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron before getting a few minutes of screen time in Guardians of the Galaxy. In comparison, Doctor Doom has shown up for a cameo in The Fantastic Four: First Steps' mid-credits scene.
Additional insights from Feige can be found in the player below.