SDCC 2026: Ryan Gosling to Star in Ghost Rider Reboot
He's just Kenough to be the Spirit of Vengeance
In a move that’s sure to raise even more questions about the canon status of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Barbie and Project Hail Mary star Ryan Gosling has signed on to star in Ghost Rider, coming to theaters in 2028. Gosling has been circling the role of Ghost Rider for a while, after having made his interest known in 2022. Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige was immediately receptive to the idea.
Ghost Rider will be directed by Shawn Levy, whose resume includes Stranger Things, Free Guy, and Deadpool & Wolverine. Levy previously directed Gosling in Star Wars: Starfighter.
Gosling told the Happy Sad Confused podcast in March, “Some discussions have been had. It’s a complicated situation….We keep hope alive.”
Ghost Rider is a motorcycle rider who sells his soul to the demon Mephisto to save his dying stepfather. Created by Gary Friedrich, Mike Ploog, and Roy Thomas, the character has a flaming skull for a head and rides a demonically-powered motorcycle. His acts of heroism are laced with some supernatural cruelty, as he acts as the “spirit of vengeance” and can terrorize enemies with a “penance stare” that subjects them to the psychological toll of their lifetime’s sins.
It’s likely Gosling will play either the Johnny Blaze or Danny Ketch version of Ghost Rider. Blaze was the original flame-headed hero, while Ketch was the star of a revived and even more extreme version of the character in the 1990s. This will not, however, be the character’s first time on the big screen — or even his first time in the Marvevl Cinematic Universe.
The role of Johnny Blaze was previously played by Nicolas Cage in a pair of solo movies from Sony Pictures. In a twist of fate, the leading lady in Ghost Rider was played by Eva Mendes, who is Gosling’s real-life partner. Mephisto in the MCU will be played by Sacha Baron Cohen, reprising his role from Ironheart.
After the rights reverted to Marvel, an updated version of the character, played by Garbiel Luna, who had a sportscar rather than a motorcycle.
Luna’s version was the Roberto “Robbie” Reyes Ghost Rider, who first appeared in 2014 in the comics (created by Felipe Smith and Tradd Moore). Robbie is the fifth Ghost Rider in Marvel Comics canon, although the first was a Western hero who rode on horseback and wore a mask, rather than a magical character with a flaming skull.
On Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the Ghost Rider “entity” briefly took over Alphonso Mackenzie and Phil Coulson, two characters created for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
