Hey Ryan Gosling, Ghost Rider’s Nicolas Cage movie writer has tips for your MCU reboot

If you ever watched Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance and found yourself wondering just how much mayhem was down to the screenwriters versus the directors, well, Scott M. Gimple (who co-wrote that 2012 Nicolas Cage sequel) has piped up with some wisdom for whoever tries to tackle this demon-on-wheels next. With Ryan Gosling officially confirmed to suit up as Johnny Blaze in the MCU’s new reboot, Gimple’s comments feel oddly timely.

From Cage to Gosling: Advice Across the Decade

Gimple, now 55 and probably still recovering from the last time Nic Cage’s head caught fire, chatted to The Direct about the unique battlegrounds of TV versus film — and what that means for a character like Ghost Rider. He’s lived both lives: scripting weird supernatural cinema and running TV rooms. Here’s how he broke down the key difference:

Speaking to The Direct, Gimple offered his perspective on directors and creative control in Hollywood:

TV is a writer’s medium. A showrunner is really driving the vision of a show. Films are directors. Directors are kind of the showrunners of film.

He went on to say that Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, who directed Spirit of Vengeance, just took what the writers did and ran wild with it. He described their style as 'wild and crazy', saying it blew him away, and pointed out that writing and directing are completely different beasts. The implication is pretty clear: if you want to do Ghost Rider justice on the big screen, you need a director with a strong — maybe even borderline bonkers — vision.

The Next Blaze: All Eyes on Levy and Gosling

So, what’s actually happening with Marvel’s next swing at Ghost Rider? At SDCC 2026 (Hall H, naturally), Kevin Feige unveiled plans: Ryan Gosling is officially your new Johnny Blaze. After the flamingly eccentric Cage era, it’ll be something else to see Gosling swap out Drive’s leather gloves for hellfire chains.

Ryan Gosling will take on Ghost Rider, coming to cinemas June 28, 2028.

Shawn Levy is stepping in to direct, which is a pretty big deal if you’ve followed his recent MCU work — he’s just off Deadpool & Wolverine, after all. Levy also happens to be working with Gosling on Star Wars: Starfighter, due out next year. If the pair bring anything like their house style from there, we could be in for a confident, fun sort of chaos. Jonathan Tropper, who’s also writing that upcoming Star Wars movie, is handling the script for Ghost Rider too.

For anyone keeping score: Marvel’s Ghost Rider reboot, starring Ryan Gosling, is set for 28 June 2028. That’s a fair stretch from now — plenty of time for wheels (literal and metaphorical) to catch fire again.