Ryan Gosling Is Playing Ghost Rider in the MCU — But Which One?

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige opened the SDCC 2026 panel with a bombshell: Ryan Gosling is joining the MCU as Ghost Rider. The film is directed by Shawn Levy — fresh off Deadpool & Wolverine — and is currently targeting a 2028 release. Ghost Rider hasn't appeared on the big screen since the 2011 Nicolas Cage sequel Spirit of Vengeance, so this is a significant return for the Spirit of Vengeance.

The catch: Marvel hasn't confirmed which Ghost Rider Gosling is actually playing. The most obvious candidate is Johnny Blaze — the motorcycle stuntman who sold his soul to Mephisto, bonded with a Spirit of Vengeance, and carried his own solo comic for 80 issues through the 1970s. Blaze is the version Cage played twice, and he remains the most recognizable Ghost Rider in mainstream pop culture. A straightforward Blaze origin story is on the table, though the source notes his rogues gallery is relatively thin outside of Mephisto himself.

The other serious contender is Danny Ketch, who debuted in 1990 and became Ghost Rider after stumbling into a gang confrontation in a Cypress Hills graveyard that left his sister Barbara wounded. Ketch's run is well-regarded by comics fans and has a distinctly grittier, street-level feel compared to Blaze's more supernatural road-trip energy. The fact that Marvel didn't confirm the character at the panel is itself a signal — if it were simply a Johnny Blaze movie, there'd be little reason to stay coy about it.

The community is understandably excited about Gosling's casting and Levy's involvement after Deadpool & Wolverine's massive success, but the unanswered question of which Ghost Rider is already driving speculation. More details are expected as the 2028 release window approaches.