Ryan Gosling as Ghost Rider? Marvel may also be bringing back Sacha Baron Cohen’s Mephisto
Expect sparks: a familiar MCU face is reportedly set to return opposite Ryan Gosling in Shawn Levy’s Ghost Rider.
Right, so Marvel Studios is back at it, moving pawns and queens around the MCU chessboard with that usual feverish energy. With Avengers: Doomsday just round the corner and the X-Men crowd finally getting their big-screen due in May 2028, you might think there’s no room for surprises. But apparently, the headlines haven’t hit peak saturation yet, because the next project rumbling through Hollywood’s rumour mill is a new Ghost Rider film, and the current scuttlebutt has some surprisingly big names attached.
Ryan Gosling is being discussed for the role of Johnny Blaze, Marvel’s original Spirit of Vengeance.
The potential director? Shawn Levy, who’s just finished wrangling Deadpool & Wolverine into cinemas. Rumour is that Levy’s already having meetings with Marvel bosses over this project, which is proper interesting considering his usual output leans more crowd-pleaser than supernatural horror. If you ever needed proof the MCU is itching to liven things up, this is probably it.
Deals With the Devil: Who’s Who
The supposed top of the call sheet is Ryan Gosling as Johnny Blaze – yes, really, notebook-heartthrob-turned-action-darling taking on a guy whose head’s literally on fire. That’s not all. Marvel’s apparently after Connor Storrie (fresh off Heated Rivalry) for the film’s big villain. And, according to the ever-chirpy Daniel RPK, it doesn’t stop there: Sacha Baron Cohen could reprise his turn as Mephisto, which would mark quite the upgrade in comic book devilry.
Sacha Baron Cohen first showed up as Mephisto in the Ironheart series, working behind the curtains with Anthony Ramos’s The Hood and Dominique Thorne’s Riri Williams.
Mephisto in the MCU isn’t your Sunday school Satan (Marvel’s demons can’t ever be too biblical in Disney’s house), but Cohen’s take is closer to a metaphysical consultant in need of a better tailor. In the comics, he’s the kingpin of all things sinister and metaphysical contracts, handing out traps disguised as opportunities. Basically, the sort of bloke who’d sell you a cursed toaster if it helped him win your soul after you’d burnt your last crumpet. With the Ironheart series, Mephisto was mainly found scheming out of sight, hinting at bigger things down the pipeline.
Why This Matchup Actually Makes Sense
If Marvel genuinely goes through with pairing up Gosling’s smouldering antihero and Cohen’s infernal dealmaker, it’d actually bring the films a bit closer to what Ghost Rider’s about for comic readers. Mephisto is the literal architect of Johnny Blaze’s misery – every chain and skull-flame ultimately leads back to him pulling strings from behind the hellfire curtain. Marvel’s allegedly getting braver about dipping into supernatural horror and leaving the old CGI punch-ups aside for once. Doing it with these actors, frankly, would give the multiverse just the sort of weird, off-centre energy it’s sorely been missing.
Sacha Baron Cohen played Mephisto in the Ironheart series before being linked to this new Ghost Rider project.