Marvel Reveals How a Supervillain Became the New Ghost Rider

There’s a new Ghost Rider in town. Marvel had been teasing that Johnny Blaze’s time as Ghost Rider was coming to an end, and that a supervillain would take over as the next Spirit of Vengeance. Ghost Rider: Final Vengeance #1 revealed that villain to be master of the mystic arts Parker Robbins, a.k.a. the Hood, who had been thwarted by Blaze, Talia Warroad, and Elsa Bloodstone in October’s Ghost Rider Annual #1. Blaze was lured to a tunnel in the Black Hills of South Dakota when Zarathos — the Spirit of Vengeance once bonded to the rider by the demon Mephisto — suddenly abandoned Blaze.

“It is time for me — Mephisto commands — to move on. To find a new vehicle that doesn’t resist me,” Zarathos said as the demon was forcibly separated from Blaze. “Someone whose veins will run cleanly with sulfurous oil and hellfire.” As the Spirit of Vengeance sought out his new host in Chicago, Blaze was ensnared in the web of a giant spider monster.

This week’s Ghost Rider: Final Vengeance #2 reveals that Robbins — once a small-time crook whose mystical cloak helped him become an Avengers-level threat — conspired to steal the Spirit of Vengeance from Johnny Blaze after the events of Ghost Rider Annual #1. The occultist made a deal with Mephisto and summoned Zarathos to Chicago, where the Spirit of Vengeance found “a kindred soul who has no concerns about innocence, no sense of moral compass, no compunction about the slaughtering harvest to come.”

Now wielding the punishing power of the Spirit of Vengeance that dispenses retribution on the guilty, Robbins begins to unleash his own brand of hellish justice. The new Ghost Rider plans to take claim of Chicago, but first, he must do away with five crime families that hold most of the power. Seizing control of a vampire night club called The Meat Locker that exudes the scent of evil and death, Ghost Rider cuts a deal with the vampire Hellmuth: He plans to spill lots of blood in Chicago, enough for her bloodsuckers to feast for several lifetimes.

While Ghost Rider recruits his vampire army in time for Blood Hunt, the supernatural magician Zebadiah has tracked down Blaze in South Dakota. He can sense when the balance between good and evil, and light and shadow, have become unbalanced. If they can’t figure out why the Spirit of Vengeance abandoned Blaze and get the real Ghost Rider back on the road, Zeb says, “We’re all dug deep in a grave of trouble.” Zeb finds Blaze entangled in the spider’s web, and is then caught himself.

Next: With the Ghost Rider planning his bloody takeover of Chicago’s criminal underworld, Johnny Blaze must claw his way back from the brink of death to reclaim the Spirit of Vengeance. Ghost Rider: Final Vengeance #3 goes on sale May 22.