It’s an especially interesting time to be following the MCU, because we don’t know much about what to expect from the upcoming Marvel movies. Sure, we know that Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars will be massive team-up films, but the franchise could go in so many directions. One comic book writer just shared his thoughts on what Ghost Rider could do, and I think some excellent points were made.
Over the summer, it was announced that Ryan Gosling is the MCU’s Ghost Rider. Fresh off filming Star Wars: Starfighter with Deadpool vs. Wolverine director Shawn Levy, the actor/director duo will work together on Ghost Rider, which is already set to come out in 2028. Benjamin Percy, who’s written Ghost Rider comics before, had this to say about the new movie:
Let me say that as a horror head, this is my time, right? I’m in my zone right now. And I’m sure whatever Marvel conjures up is going to be great, but I would lean towards the R-rated horror version of the character and not do the standard cape and spandex, MCU type, which can be very effective if you’re doing a Doomsday storyline, or an X-Men storyline.
Absolutely! Horror has been having a fantastic moment right now, and Ghost Rider taking a more horror approach would be a great change of pace in the MCU. Benjamin Percy wrote a 2022 run of Ghost Rider comic books for Marvel that featured Johnny Blaze and a lot of bloody visions and nightmares. And Gosling just happens to be playing a new iteration of Johnny Blaze as well. Percy also had these ideas when talking to ComicBook:
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But in this case, I would really lean into, like, Johnny pulling hot chains out of his mouth, Hellraiser style, or his skin melting right off of him with a halo of flames around. Like, give us the body horror. Give us a really hellish iteration of Ghost Rider on the screen. We live in a golden age of horror. It’s time.
Percy’s comments come just as DC Studios recently put out their own horror movie, Clayface, which opened No. 1 at the box office last weekend. You’ve probably seen the Marvel Cinematic Universe explore horror to some degree if you have a Disney+ subscription, since they’ve done so with Werewolf By Night and Marvel Zombies. But it’s yet to happen in a big way on the big screen.
How Johnny Blaze becomes Ghost Rider is quite ripe for an R-rated horror movie. Johnny is a motorcycle stunt performer who sells his soul to Mephisto in order to save his father figure, Crash Simpson, from dying of cancer. Crash’s cancer is cured, but he dies performing a stunt, and Johnny confronts Mephisto, who then bonds him with the demon Zarathos. This act turns Johnny into the Ghost Rider!
Certainly the origin story of Ghost Rider itself has horror elements, but the previous version of the movie starring Nicolas Cage opted for a more superhero action-style flick. I don’t know what the plans are for Ryan Gosling’s Ghost Rider (which apparently Gosling pitched to Kevin Feige himself), but I think Benjamin Percy has some great ideas for the film. I hope they see his comments and take inspiration from them (if it’s not in the plans already).