Ghost Rider does not have a single confirmed cast member beyond Ryan Gosling, and the rumor mill is already working overtime.
According to Jeff Sneider in his InSneider newsletter, via Reddit, the Shawn Levy film sits further down Marvel’s priority list and is not actively casting yet.
That has not stopped the intel from flowing, and what Sneider is hearing touches the love interest, the villain situation, and where Gosling’s flaming skull shows up first.
Rosamund Pike Eyed As Johnny Blaze’s Love Interest
Sneider reports he has heard of a potential love interest for Gosling’s Johnny Blaze, and it’s Rosamund Pike, whom he describes as Oscar-nominated and “age-appropriate,” as Pike is 47 to Gosling’s 45.
The Gone Girl star is coming off a hot streak, too.
She played South African diamond magnate Veronika Vanderberg in November’s Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, a villain turn whose Johannesburg accent drew widespread praise, and she just shared the screen with Sacha Baron Cohen in Netflix’s Ladies First back in May.
That second pairing matters here for a reason.
Mephisto Returns, But Not As The Main Villain
Per the same report, Baron Cohen will return as Mephisto, the devil he debuted in Ironheart, though he will not be the film’s main villain.
That would make Ghost Rider a Ladies First reunion inside a Marvel movie, with Pike and Baron Cohen going from Netflix comedy co-stars to the Spirit of Vengeance’s orbit.
Sneider did not say who the main villain is. If the film follows the 2007 movie’s blueprint, Blackheart, Mephisto’s son, would be the obvious comics candidate, but it seems likely Gosling will be going in a new direction.
Johnny Blaze Only, And A Secret Wars Debut First
The report also answers the question Kevin Feige pointedly would not.
After the Hall H reveal, Feige declined to confirm whether Gosling is playing Johnny Blaze or Danny Ketch, saying he would let his star reveal what he wants to reveal.
Per Sneider, Johnny Blaze will be the only Ghost Rider in the movie, which is expected to shoot on location in California, Nevada, and Oregon.
The bigger tease is the runway. Sneider says Gosling’s Ghost Rider is expected to be introduced in Avengers: Secret Wars before the solo film arrives in 2028.
Add him to the pile. The event movie increasingly looks like the launchpad Marvel is using to seed its post-reset slate. Given the Hall H coronation Marvel gave Gosling, debuting him in the biggest movie on the schedule tracks perfectly.
As for how Gosling got here in the first place, we exclusively reported that Keanu Reeves was also up for Ghost Rider before Gosling landed it.
Deadpool’s Delay Opened The Door For Ghost Rider
Sneider also explains why Levy lined up Ghost Rider after Star Wars: Starfighter rather than another Deadpool movie: Ryan Reynolds has been slow to write the next one (though Reynolds recently said it will be great and showed up at Comic-Con), with Sneider quipping that Reynolds has been “a little distracted,” which is due to his wife, Blake Lively’s recent legal battles.
Levy and writer Jonathan Tropper are the same creative unit Gosling is working with on Starfighter, so with Deadpool lacking a script, the machine simply rolled on to the next Gosling project.
Much like how involved Gosling is with Ghost Rider, we’ve been told the same about his Star Wars film.
As always with intel this early, and on a movie that is not even casting yet, treat it accordingly. Ghost Rider opens in 2028.
For how the Gosling era at Marvel began, check out our complete Hall H coverage.
