With the Marvel rumor mill already churning about Ghost Rider’s debut in the MCU, Mohd Harris, who runs the popular Instagram account @welove__marvel, just got us even more pumped about a new incarnation of the Spirit of Vengeance. Harris posted fan art imagining Ryan Gosling as Ghost Rider, decked out in spikes, chains, and leather. Half of Gosling’s face in the fan art is a flaming skull, the hero’s hallmark, and he stands blazing both figuratively and literally, ready to kick butt and protect the innocent. Although Gosling is very much a fan cast as Ghost Rider, the post has us convinced he would make a great Johnny Blaze or Danny Ketch in the MCU.
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Ghost Rider debuted in Marvel comics in 1972, and the character was created by Roy Thomas, Gary Friedrich, and Mike Ploog. Billed as “the most supernatural superhero of them all,” the original Ghost Rider was stunt cyclist Johnny Blaze. Blaze gained his hellacious powers after agreeing to give his soul to “Satan” (who was actually Mephisto) to save his adoptive father’s life. Through Mephisto bonding Blaze with the demon Zarathos, Blaze’s flesh is consumed by a hellfire that he can wield, and his head becomes a flaming skull at night or whenever he’s in the presence of evil. Nicholas Cage was the first actor to bring Johnny Blaze to the big screen in 2007’s Ghost Rider, which funnily enough, also starred Gosling’s wife Eva Mendes. Cage reprised his role five years later in 2012 in the sequel Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.
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Gosling May Be a Fan Cast, But He Has the Range and the Resume to Play Ghost Rider for Real
Brad Winderbaum, Marvel Studios’ Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation, said last year that he would want to bring the Danny Ketch version of Ghost Rider to the MCU. Ketch, Blaze’s long-lost brother who becomes Ghost Rider by touching a mystical sigil and not by making a bargain with a demon, led the Ghost Rider comics in the ’90s. Winderbaum’s preference toward Ketch makes sense — we’ve already seen Johnny Blaze on screen along with Ghost Rider Robbie Reyes in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Plus, Ketch’s Ghost Rider works closely with the Midnight Sons. We know Marvel is actively developing a movie version about the Midnight Sons, possibly with Ghost Rider leading the team.
Both a bonafide box office name and an indie darling, Gosling would be perfect for the role of Ketch. A three-time Oscar nominee, Gosling has proven he has the acting chops to play Ketch’s troubled past and ground the character within the heightened, supernatural world he exists in. Gosling is also no stranger to an action-packed blockbuster either. He brought us a new generation of Blade Runner in Denis Villeneuve’s sleek Blade Runner 2049, plus Gosling played a motorcycle-riding stuntman just last year in The Fall Guy. Currently, he’s preparing to lead Shawn Levy’s Star Wars: Starfighter movie which is bound to be full of action and thrills. It’s also worth noting that Gosling has never appeared in the MCU, and Ketch, especially if he’s leading the Midnight Sons film, could provide the perfect opportunity to for him to join.
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