Ryan Gosling To Star In Marvel's Ghost Rider Movie

Last night, Marvel Studios held its highly anticipated Hall H panel at San Diego Comic Con, and with that came a host of new announcements. One of those was that Ryan Gosling is confirmed to be playing the titular role in Ghost Rider, with the film being directed by Shawn Levy.

Rumours of Ryan Gosling taking on the role have circulated for years, with presenter Joshua Horowitz playing a key role in championing both the project and Gosling’s casting. During an episode of his Happy Sad Confused podcast, Gosling revealed he had been in discussions with Marvel. Those rumours were finally put to rest during Marvel Studios’ Hall H panel when Horowitz asked Kevin Feige about the project. As the lights went down, Gosling emerged on stage to thunderous applause, officially confirming his casting as Ghost Rider.

At the panel, Kevin Feige joked about how often he had been asked whether Ghost Rider would finally join the Marvel Cinematic Universe – and if Ryan Gosling would take on the role. For Gosling, however, the announcement had been a long time coming. As he took to the stage, he told the Hall H audience, “Wow, is this really happening? As you know, this is a character I’ve wanted to play for a very long time.”

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Gosling then revealed that there was “only one director” who could bring Ghost Rider to the big screen, welcoming Shawn Levy to the Hall H stage. The pair are currently collaborating on the upcoming Star Wars: Starfighter, and Levy shared that much of their downtime on set was spent discussing ideas for Ghost Rider. “As Ryan started talking about his vision for the character, we started riffing,” Levy said. “And I finally said, ‘Bro, let’s ride.’ So guys, we’ll see you in 2028.”

Levy has previously worked with Marvel, directing Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman in Deadpool & Wolverine, which became the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time, crossing the $1.3 billion mark globally.

Ghost Rider is one of Marvel’s most iconic supernatural heroes, imbued with the Spirit of Vengeance and driven to punish the wicked while riding his hellfire-powered vehicle. The character was previously brought to the big screen in 2007, with Nicolas Cage starring as stunt motorcyclist Johnny Blaze alongside Eva Mendes. In the film, Blaze strikes a deal with the devil to save his father’s life, only to be called upon years later to embrace his supernatural powers and stop Blackheart, the devil’s son.

Details for the new Ghost Rider are under wraps, but the film is expected to hit cinemas in 2028.