Ryan Gosling wasn’t the only name attached to Ghost Rider.
At Comic-Con, I spoke with a prominent Hollywood VFX artist who has worked on the Spider-Man movies, and he told me Keanu Reeves was also up to play Ghost Rider in the MCU before Marvel confirmed Gosling in the role at Saturday’s Hall H panel.
This is the same source who broke down the Fantastic Four: First Steps post-credit scene for Cosmic Book News at last year’s Comic-Con, explaining the Franklin Richards healing moment and Doom’s vanity psychology which is now at the center of the Avengers: Doomsday marketing.
Keanu And Marvel: The Longest Courtship In Hollywood
Kevin Feige has said in the past that Marvel talks to Keanu Reeves about nearly every movie it makes, and fans have been casting Reeves as Johnny Blaze for the better part of a decade, right alongside the years of Gosling fan-casting that Feige admits led to actual meetings.
Picture that shortlist for a second. The two most fan-cast actors in Marvel history, both circling the same flaming skull.
Why Gosling Won
As Feige laid out in his post-panel interviews, Gosling approached Marvel with a fully formed vision built on specific comics, bringing his Star Wars: Starfighter director Shawn Levy to direct and Jonathan Tropper to write.
Marvel didn’t cast an actor, it bought a package.
Reeves, meanwhile, has spent years attached to his own long-gestating projects, including the Constantine sequel he’s been trying to will into existence at Warner Bros.
There’s also a version of this where the story isn’t over.
The MCU is about to get very big and very weird after Secret Wars, Ghost Rider is a mantle passed between multiple characters in the comics, and Marvel talking to Keanu for everything means Marvel keeps talking to Keanu.
Ghost Rider, with Gosling starring and Levy directing, opens in 2028. For everything from Marvel’s panel, check out our complete Hall H coverage.
