Marvel Studios has been sitting on the Ghost Rider rights for years, allowing Marvel Television to use the Robbie Reyes version in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. for a brief spell. Recently, however, rumours have persisted that Johnny Blaze is being lined up to make his MCU debut.
Initially, we heard that might happen in a "Marvel Studios Special Presentation," but with Disney shifting its focus away from Disney+ in a bid to increase theatrical profits, those plans might have fallen by the wayside.
The Spirit of Vengeance is bound to show up somewhere down the line, but before we get a new version, we may see a familiar flaming face.
According to scooper @MyTimeToShineH, Ghost Rider and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance star Nicolas Cage is now in "active talks" to reprise the role. The project he's being eyed for isn't named, though Avengers: Doomsday and/or Avengers: Secret Wars are most likely.
This comes after Deadpool & Wolverine star Ryan Reynolds recently said, "[Daredevil and Ghost Rider] were in early drafts. We had versions of that [sequence], but then as it shook out, you're sort of looking...we're trying to make the movie responsibly, as well."
"It's a big budget. It's the biggest budget of any of the Deadpool movies, but you want to give yourself as much constraint, which really I think facilitates asymmetrical thinking and creativity."
"If you have too much time or too much money, it usually murders that kind of creativity. So, yeah, you're shrinking things," the actor continued. "But we did talk to Nic Cage. We tried to get him, but he was a no-go. I would've loved him."
The plan in that movie had been for both Cage's Ghost Rider and Ben Affleck's Daredevil to be part of The Void's Resistance. Instead, the focus was put on Blade, Elektra, Gambit, and X-23.
The Ghost Rider "mantle" has been held by several characters, though Johnny Blaze remains the most iconic. Debuting in 1972, he's a stunt motorcyclist who, through a deal with the devil, transforms into the Ghost Rider when in the presence of evil.
In an interview which took place shortly before the launch of Agatha All Along, Marvel Television boss and Marvel Studios' Head of Marvel Streaming, Television and Animation, Brad Winderbaum, was asked which one character he'd like to bring to TV.
"I would wanna do the Danny Ketch era of Ghost Rider," he confirmed. "I think there are a lot of people who would be here for some Ghost Rider."
For now, focusing on the supernatural superhero's most famous Variant may be a priority for Marvel Studios and we'd imagine Cage will have far more fun with this role than he did playing a grotesque CG Superman in The Flash.