With a 2028 release in the offing for Marvel’s supernatural reboot, Ryan Gosling is set to become the new Ghost Rider in a standalone film from director Shawn Levy.
The announcement at San Diego Comic-Con was one of the more headline-making moments on Marvel Studios’ slate and a coup for Kevin Feige’s post-Multiverse agenda. In doing so, the studio put an end to months of industry speculation and made it official: the Oscar-nominated actor will be making his way into the MCU to front a Ghost Rider feature under Levy’s direction.
It is a significant talent alignment for a property that has been inactive on the big screen since Nicolas Cage’s two-film stint with Sony back in the late 2000s.
A Change of Pace
One could say Gosling’s casting brings to a head a long-running courtship with the superhero giant. The actor has been known to dismiss rumors about playing your typical comic book type, yet he has never been shy about his fondness for Johnny Blaze, the stuntman who makes a deal with the devil to become a vigilante.
Then there is the matter of Levy. Coming off the historic numbers of Deadpool & Wolverine, his involvement is no accident. Marvel appears to be making a tonal statement; with this team you can expect something more than camp or gore for its own sake. It is a mix of high-octane action and the kind of antihero work that should appeal to a wide theatrical audience.
Behind the Scenes
What little is known of the plot is being kept under wraps at Marvel, but word is the film will dig into Blaze’s roots and place him in the midnight-tier side of the MCU. Levy is slated to start pre-production once he is done with the tail end of Stranger Things on Netflix, and Gosling will be on hand as a producer with Feige to have a say in how the character is retooled for today’s viewers.
A Star-Powered Strategy
There is method to Marvel’s move in putting Gosling in the saddle. These days a name on the marquee does not automatically translate to box office gold, so the studio is turning to real movie-star charisma for its secondary antiheroes. Gosling has a way of commanding a room with equal parts dry humor and dramatic heft, and Levy’s commercial acumen will see to it the supernatural trappings do not put off the mainstream.
For the franchise, which is in the process of recalibrating following its Multiverse run, Ghost Rider is the dark horse needed to anchor the 2020s lineup. After all this time, the MCU’s darker, more earthly elements have an A-list figurehead at last.