San Diego Comic-Con is well underway, and there’s been a ton of exciting news. But perhaps nothing has been more anticipated than Marvel’s return to the vaunted Hall H with their last appearance being in 2024. Just look at the line for people trying to get in to see the presentation for confirmation of the excitement. Tonight, to a raucous crowd of an estimated 6,500 people, Marvel Studios revealed that we’re getting a new Ghost Rider movie. And it’s not Nicolas Cage in the motorcycle seat, but the long-rumored Ryan Gosling taking up the mantle of the flaming Spirit of Vengeance. (If you’re a Cage fan, don’t fret, though. He’s got a hit on his hands with Prime Video’s Spider-Noir.)
The actor, who this author will forever remember as the titular Young Hercules, is fresh off the successful sci-fi film Project Hail Mary. Shawn Levy will direct Gosling in Marvel Studios’ Ghost Rider after teaming up for the upcoming Star Wars: Starfighter. It’s Gosling’s first superhero film (my condolences, everyone who wanted him as Green Lantern in 2008), but not Levy’s. He’s the creative force, aka director and producer, behind 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine. Both were on stage for the Hall H announcement. And Gosling’s red jacket even matched the snazzy new Ghost Rider logo that Marvel popped on stage.
Gosling’s ascension to the MCU has been whispered about online for ages, so for Disney and Feige watchers, this is an exciting moment to see come to fruition. For Levy too, it was an interesting anniversary – at the last Marvel Hall H presentation, the director showed the world the first look at Deadpool & Wolverine. Comic fans expected to get news about the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day film, and Avengers: Doomsday, but few had this reveal on their comic movie bingo cards. Jonathan Tropper will reportedly write the film, while the pitch for the story came from Gosling based on some very specific comics for the character. Tropper is also the writer for the Star Wars: Starfighter film.
We don’t know what version of Ghost Rider the actor will play. Cage played Johnny Blaze for the two films he starred in. Gabriel Luna was Robbie Reyes on the small screen, portraying the character in Agents of S. H. I. E. L. D. It’s also unclear if the first time we meet Gosling’s Ghost Rider will be in the film – Marvel famously boasts a wildly interconnected universe, and characters tend to pop up in other films to whet the audience’s appetite for more stories.
There’s no official release date for Ghost Rider yet besides 2028, so we’ll just have to wait for more information and enjoy the splashy logo that popped up on screen. Projects can and do move for various reasons, but right now Marvel has 3 dates reserved in that year. 5/5/2028, 7/28/2028, and 12/5/2028 are all on their calendar. The December date is already booked for Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther III, starring Industry’s David Jonsson, so that leaves the other two as options. We can’t wait to see it.
Watch Ghost Rider’s reveal for yourself at the clip Marvel posted on X.
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