Marvel’s Danny Ketch Gets a Crazy Upgrade

The War for Hell continues to rage on within the Marvel universe and one major change has taken place for Danny Ketch. No longer a Ghost Rider, Ketch has now made a deal to reinstate at least some of his powers and it’s all given him a major new look. Full disclosure, massive spoilers are up ahead for the current Ghost Rider run from Ed Brisson and company. Proceed with caution if you’re hoping to avoid spoilers.

Even prior to coronavirus-related delays, Ketch had been stripped of the Spirit of Vengeance as Johnny Blaze, now the King of Hell, found him unfit for the powers. As such, Ketch was — and is currently, for that matter — unable to turn into Ghost Rider. Instead, the character traveled to Limbo in order to make a deal with Belasco. After battling Necrosis, a henchman to the demon, Belasco granted Ketch the powers Necrosis had.

Instead of being the Spirit of Vengeance, Ketch is now the Spirit of Corruption and regained similar powers to that of when he was Ghost Rider, though this time around the powers deal with rot instead of hellfire. For the first time this run, Ketch was finally able to return to Earth and battle Blaze, now power-hunger for his throne.

One epic fight later — one in which Wolverine and The Punisher mowed down legions of demons around the Ghost Rider duo — Ketch impaled Blaze on his fancy new sword. This eventually led to Ketch being able to remove the corruption from Blaze, returning him to his former state.

Despite Blaze seemingly no longer serving as the primary antagonist of the series, the War for Hell is set to continue in Ghost Rider Annual #1, though it’s unclear when the issue will be available due to the various delays. That issue’s full solicitation can be found below.

GHOST RIDER ANNUAL #1
HOWARD MACKIE & ED BRISSON (W) • JAVIER SALTARES (A/C)
Variant Cover by PHILIP TAN

THE ONE YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR – THE RETURN OF VENGEANCE!

MICHAEL BADILINO was a bad dude in life…and that landed him in hell. But not just any old rung of hell, a layer so deep it’s reserved for those special enemies of hell – one where a former SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE may suffer for all eternity!

As LILITH’s gambit against JOHNNY BLAZE and MEPHISTO for the throne of hell heats up, you can bet other players will enter the arena……and Badilino will find a way to ride again as VENGEANCE!

Fan-favorite GHOST RIDER creators Howard Mackie and Javier Saltares return to the saga of the Spirits of Vengeance in an all-new tale as Vengeance brings his own brand of hellfire to the Marvel Universe!

40 PGS./ONE-SHOT/Rated T+ …$4.99

Ghost Rider #7 is now available digitally and at your local comic shop.