Ghost Rider Co-Creator Hasn't Been Contacted About Using Character in Live-Action

10/20/2021 04:25 pm EDT

While some legendary comic creators are being contacted by the powers that be at Disney and Marvel Studios regarding their past comic creations, Roy Thomas doesn't happen to be one of those creators. Earlier this fall, former Marvel editor Jim Shooter revealed at a convention appearance Disney contacted him to help clear Secret Wars, the comic he created with Mike Zeck and Bob Layton. As Shooter said, he thought apparently Marvel Studios intended on using the story in an upcoming project.

Thomas tells us something similar has yet to happen with him involving Ghost Rider, a character he created with Mike Ploog and the late Gary Friedrich.

"No, Ghost Rider — like Secret Wars, for that matter, as I'm sure Jim Shooter agrees — belongs to Marvel under the work-for-hire circumstances under which we developed those concepts," Thomas told us as part of our Hellfire and Brimstone: A Celebration of Marvel's Ghost Rider piece.

He added, "It'd be nice to be consulted about characters we've created or co-created, but Marvel's under no obligation to do so. You'd have to ask Marvel why they did so in the case of Secret Wars. But Ghost Rider? I've never been given (nor asked for) any specific credit or money for Ghost Rider, to the best of my knowledge. I'm happy with my arrangements with Marvel on many other concepts I co-created or developed, however... and have no quarrel regarding the character." 

Thomas then went on to add that he wasn't the biggest fan of how the Kree-Skrull war was treated in the Captain Marvel movie.

"Nobody checked with me about using the Kree-Skrull War in the Captain Marvel movie," the legendary creator added. "If they had given me a choice, I would have vetoed the idea of indicating that the Kree were any worse than the Skrulls. The whole point of my original concept was that one was as bad as the other, and I think anything that changed that--either in comics or film--undercut the original concept."

Read more:

• Ghost Rider Director Reveals One Character Sony Didn't Let Him Use
  
• Agents of SHIELD's Gabriel Luna Reveals One Condition to Returning as Ghost Rider
  

For even more Ghost Rider goodies, you can check out Hellfire and Brimstone: A Celebration of Marvel's Ghost Rider here!

What other characters would you eventually like to see Ghost Rider take on in live-action? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things Marvel!

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