Walking Dead Star Norman Reedus Reignites Marvel's Ghost Rider Speculation

Norman Reedus is revving up rumors he's playing Ghost Rider for Marvel Studios. A real-life motorcycle enthusiast, The Walking Dead star previously confirmed to ComicBook he wants to play the supernatural superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Amid new rumors that the Shang-Chi and Spider-Man studio is close to finalizing a deal with an actor who isn't Keanu Reeves, Reedus is backing an ongoing fan-driven campaign to play the hellfire anti-hero previously played in live-action by Nicolas Cage in 2007's Ghost Rider and Gabriel Luna on television's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D

On Twitter, Reedus (@wwwbigbaldhead) has favorited multiple posts urging Kevin Feige's Marvel Studios to cast the Walking Dead star as its Johnny Blaze. "The only name I want to hear for #GhostRider is Norman Reedus," reads one fan's tweet liked by Reedus in response to rumors Marvel has found its new Ghost Rider. 

Another user agrees, tweeting, "It's going to be awesome to see Norman Reedus as Ghost Rider whipping people around." Reedus like that tweet as well as a fan petition calling the Boondock Saints star "the perfect and obvious choice to play the role." 

"It can't be said enough. Norman Reedus would be the perfect actor to play Ghost Rider! Please, @MarvelStudios, make him a part of the MCU," reads another fan tweet liked by Reedus.

"The Ghost Rider conversation has been coming up for years, and yeah, tell them to put me in it," Reedus told ComicBook in July. "I want to play Ghost Rider." 

Jon Bernthal, who co-starred opposite Reedus on the first two seasons of The Walking Dead, went on to play the Punisher in his own Marvel Television series on Netflix. Potentially reuniting with Bernthal in the MCU would be "so fun," Reedus told us at the time. "That would be great. So, I don't know, call somebody, make that happen. I want to do it."

Reedus added: "I want a fire skull. I want my face to turn into a fire skull and whip a chain around. That would be great."

Along with his role as zombie apocalypse survivor Daryl Dixon on The Walking Dead and the hot-headed Murphy MacManus in The Boondock Saints, Reedus appeared as the weaponsmith Scud in 2002's Marvel Comics adaptation Blade II

Feige, who will bring a rebooted Blade (Mahershala Ali) into the MCU along with the supernatural Werewolf by Night (Gael Garcia Bernal), previously expressed interest in Ghost Rider and other horror-tinged characters in a 2018 interview with ComicBook.

In the comics, Johnny Blaze is a stunt motorcyclist who bonds with the demon Zarathos to become the Spirit of Vengeance after a deal with the demon Mephisto. Using his Hellfire powers for good, Blaze rides a flaming Hell Cycle as he battles supernatural threats of the Marvel universe.

Cage played Blaze in Sony's Ghost Rider and its sequel, 2011's Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance; Luna played Robbie Reyes, another version of Ghost Rider, across 10 episodes of ABC and Marvel TV's Agents of SHIELD

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