Ryan Gosling is officially joining the MCU as Ghost Rider in a new film directed by Shawn Levy (Deadpool & Wolverine) that’s due out in 2028. Gosling joined Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige on stage during the company’s Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con to announce the news. Gosling said that Levy convinced him to take the role when they were filming Star Wars: Starfighter together.
Ghost Rider, aka Johnny Blaze, hasn’t appeared on the big screen since the 2011 Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, starring Nicolas Cage. Cage also played the character in the 2007 film simply titled Ghost Rider.
Gabriel Luna played the Robbie Reyes version of Ghost Rider in Agents of SHIELD season four, which aired from 2016-2017.
Feige and Gosling were pretty tight-lipped about the new movie, but Marvel did unveil a new logo for Ghost Rider.
Just announced in Hall H:
Ryan Gosling joins the MCU in Marvel Studios’ Ghost Rider, directed by Shawn Levy. Only in theaters 2028. #SDCC pic.twitter.com/S0FQKt5RGn
— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) July 26, 2026
Johnny Blaze’s comic-book origin story has him selling his soul to the Devil to save his ailing father, who beats cancer only to die in a motorcycle crash. A side effect of that bargain involves his occasional transformation-by-hellfire into the character’s iconic guise as a biker with a flaming skull.
The role seemed fated for Gosling (see: his role as a troubled stunt motorcyclist in 2012’s The Place Beyond the Pines) and had been rumored previously before being confirmed on the Hall H stage tonight.
Ghost Rider will mark Levy’s return to the MCU after directing 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine; as mentioned above, it will reunite him with his Star Wars: Starfighter star, Gosling. That movie hits theaters in May 2027—by which time the team will no doubt be hard at work on Ghost Rider to make that 2028 release date.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
Read the full article here
