She-Hulk's Donny Blaze Actor Addresses Ghost Rider Theories

By Kofi Outlaw


She-Hulk: Attorney at Law had Marvel fans seeing ghosts – Ghost Rider, to be exact. Episode 4 of She-Hulk centers on Jen Walters (Tatiana Maslany) taking on the cast of Wong (Benedict Wong), who is looking to stop a former student of the mystic arts named Donny Blaze (Rhys Coiro) from using actual magical knowledge in his stage act. The powers that be at Marvel Studios and the makers of She-Hulk all had to know what they were doing there: "Johnny Blaze" is, of course, Marvel Comics' original Ghost Rider host. 

So, was "Donny Blaze' introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe for more than just a comedic magic act? Or is She-Hulk taking a page from WandaVision and throwing another "Ralph Boehner" fake-out our way? 

Rhys Coiro was doing an interview with TV Insider and was asked directly whether or not "Donny Blaze" had any relation to Johnny Blaze, The Ghost Rider. Coiro wasn't exactly willing to shoot down the idea, even though he couldn't confirm it, either:

"Names are powerful..." Rhys Coiro teased. "And it's no small thing to carry the name Blaze. It's very fun, but who knows?"

Eagle-eyed Marvel fans started noticing Donny Blaze's presence during the marketing campaign for the show, which obviously raised some Ghost Rider questions. During She-Hulk's premiere, show writer Jessica Gao addressed what Donny Blaze means to the MCU: 

"He's not Ghost Rider – his name is Donny Blaze," Gao told Deadline at the premiere. "He is a magician named Donny Blaze. This is just a magician who picked a stage name that he thought was going to get a lot of attention. He's a big character in his episode but he is not Ghost Rider."

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Ghost Rider is one of the last dangling threads of the Marvel Universe that has yet to fully manifest in the MCU. After Nic Cage's Ghost Rider movies in the 2000s, the Agents of SHIELD TV series introduced the modern Marvel Comics Ghost Rider in Robbie Reyes (Gabriel Luna). However, the MCU has just begun prying open the doors of the supernatural with series like Moon Knight – but there is more quickly on the way. 

Marvel's panel at D23 revealed that Werewolf By Night is coming this Halloween; Moon Knight season 2 is a hopeful bet; Blade will bring the supernatural MCU to the big screen... Basically, there's a lot of reason for Marvel fans to be hopeful for the MCU Midnight Sons – including Ghost Rider. Marvel Studios even has a big star already campaigning for the part: Ryan Gosling. 

She-Hulk streams new episodes Thursdays on Disney+. 

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