Ryan Gosling has officially been cast as Ghost Rider in a new Marvel Cinematic Universe film.
Read More: Ryan Gosling tells the spooky story of his gothic noughties folk duo Dead Man’s Bones
The news was announced during Marvel Studios’ presentation at San Diego Comic-Con yesterday (July 25), with the standalone film expected to arrive in cinemas in 2028.
Gosling will reunite with Star Wars: Starfighter director Shawn Levy on the project, while Jonathan Tropper has been enlisted to write the screenplay. Tropper has also written the forthcoming Star Wars film, which stars Gosling and is due to arrive on May 28, 2027.
Appearing on stage at Comic-Con, Gosling said: “This is a character I’ve wanted to play for a long time.”
The casting brings years of speculation surrounding Gosling and Ghost Rider to an end. The actor first publicly expressed an interest in taking on the role in 2022, after denying reports that he had been approached to play the cosmic superhero Nova.
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige later responded enthusiastically to Gosling’s suggestion, saying: “Gosling’s unbelievable. Ryan is amazing. I’d love to find a place for him in the MCU. He’s dressed up as Ken on Venice Beach and gets more press than giant movies coming out that weekend. It’s amazing.”
Ghost Rider is most commonly associated with Johnny Blaze, a motorcycle stunt performer who makes a deal with the demon Mephisto and is transformed into a flaming-skulled supernatural agent of vengeance. Nicolas Cage previously played Blaze in 2007’s Ghost Rider and its 2011 sequel, Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance.
The 2007 film also starred Gosling’s longtime partner Eva Mendes as Blaze’s childhood sweetheart Roxanne Simpson, although there has been no indication that Mendes will return for the new adaptation.
Star Wars: Starfighter, meanwhile, will be a standalone story set several years after The Rise Of Skywalker and will also star Amy Adams, Mia Goth, Matt Smith, Aaron Pierre and Simon Bird.
Gosling most recently starred in Project Hail Mary. Speaking to NME around its release, he reminisced about his short-lived indie-folk band Dead Man’s Bones, which he revealed was formed over his and bandmate Zach Shields’ shared love of the Disneyland ride Haunted Mansion.
Elsewhere at Comic-Con, Industry actor David Jonsson was announced as the adult son of Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa in Black Panther 3, which will be released on December 15, 2028.
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