Ghost Rider Report Reveals Which Version Ryan Gosling Will Play, & It Kills a Popular Theory
It looks like we officially know which version of Ghost Rider that Ryan Gosling will be stepping into. While it’s always been a long-running fan theory that Gosling would be picking up one of the Ghost Rider titles, it was never known for sure which role he’d actually be taking on. It felt pretty safe to say that he wouldn’t be taking on the second rider, a Sioux chief named Hellhawk, or Kushala, the Spirit Rider. But other riders on the table, like Danny Ketch, or even Ghost, the first rider (and a caveman), seemed like they could easily be a possibility.
Well, fans don’t have to theorize anymore: it’s now being reported that Gosling will be portraying Johnny Blaze in the Shawn Levy-directed film, a role that was last played by Nicolas Cage—and one that most fans thought wasn’t on the table because Cage was still around to hand off the Ghost Rider mantle to whichever version Gosling would be playing. And while everyone is excited that Gosling is officially joining the MCU, the retconning of Cage’s Blaze is likely to ruffle a few feathers, especially those of long-time fans who had been hoping that Gosling would be showing up as Ketch.
Is This Choice Just a Rehash of Old Stories?
Fans are divided on that, with some saying that Gosling playing Ketch would be too good to be true, and others saying that it makes sense he’d be pushing to bring Blaze back to the big screen—especially considering the differences in their levels of popularity. “I mean obviously. Ryan looks just like Johnny, and plus him advocating for the role this hard only to not portray the most well-known version of Ghost Rider? Yeah, of course he wanted to be THE Johnny Blaze,” said one fan. Though bringing Ketch to the big screen would have allowed Gosling to put his own spin on a character that truly does deserve his time in the spotlight, as opposed to drawing comparisons to Cage’s take on Blaze.
Another fan added, “we should’ve known he wasn’t gonna play Danny,” highlighting the disappointment over the choice. But the fact of the matter is that Marvel is always in it for the big bucks, and bringing Johnny Blaze, the most well-known of all the Ghost Riders, back means that the studio will definitely be getting a return on their investment. It’s also worth noting that this might mean that the MCU is planning to bring together Blaze and another Ghost Rider, Robbie Reyes, who was played by Gabriel Luna in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., potentially leaning more into the supernatural side of Marvel (and possibly even bringing Mephisto to the big screen).
