What About The MCU’s Other Ghost Riders?

Thanks to Marvel Studios’ recent panel at San Diego Comic-Con, it’s finally happening: actor Ryan Gosling is joining the MCU as Ghost Rider. A superhero role the actor has expressed interest in for years, several Marvel fans have long supported the dream casting, which is now becoming reality. However, one has to wonder what this new Ghost Rider might mean for the MCU’s past Spirits of Vengeance.

With Deadpool & Wolverine’s Shawn Levy set to direct and Jonathan Tropper writing the script, Marvel’s upcoming Ghost Rider movie is already one of the Multiverse Saga’s most exciting post-Secret Wars projects. This is especially true considering that Levy, Tropper, and Gosling will have just come off 2027’s Star Wars: Starfighter for Lucasfilm.

Although details are still slim about which specific version of Ghost Rider Ryan Gosling will end up playing, Johnny Blaze or Danny Ketch do seem like the most likely options from the original comics. However, there is one wrinkle already being pointed out online: technically, the MCU has already featured more than one Ghost Rider before. Here’s how Marvel Studios might reconcile these past Spirits of Vengeance with Ryan Gosling’s new version coming in 2028.

Technically, Ryan Gosling Isn’t The MCU’s First Ghost Rider

Well before Ryan Gosling’s casting, the fourth season of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. debuted Robbie Reyes’ Ghost Rider in live-action, played by actor Gabriel Luna. Rather than riding a flaming motorcycle, Reyes drove an impressive muscle car known as the Hell Charger, becoming the Spirit of Vengeance after he was killed by a gang and resurrected by another Ghost Rider.

Although this previous Ghost Rider in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was never named, it was heavily implied he was the original Spirit of Vengeance, Johnny Blaze. Because his human face was never shown, the door is arguably open for Marvel Studios to revisit the character without contradicting the show.

In the ABC series, Robbie Reyes ultimately joined forces with Phil Coulson’s SHIELD team during their mission to secure a copy of the dark magical book known as The Darkhold. By the season’s end, Robbie ventured into Hell itself to find a place where the book would be safe.

However, the big question is whether the events of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. remain part of the MCU’s official timeline at all. When it first began, S.H.I.E.L.D. was one of Marvel Studios’ closest television counterparts, directly setting up and following key events seen on the big screen, most notably major movies like Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Avengers: Age of Ultron. However, later seasons gradually became more isolated as the show introduced concepts like time travel, alternate timelines, and more elements that made the show far less connected (beginning with its fifth season).

That said, Marvel hasn’t completely ignored the series since it ended in 2020. Several MCU projects released as recently as this year have included subtle references to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, suggesting that at least the earlier seasons could perhaps still be considered canon. As a result, it does leave Robbie Reyes’ Ghost Rider and his connection to Johnny Blaze in an interesting position ahead of Ryan Gosling’s 2028 movie.

Will Marvel Studios Acknowledge Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Ghost Riders?

On the whole, Marvel Studios seems to have some fairly easy ways to make everything fit. If Gosling is playing Johnny Blaze, there’s a simple solution: Because Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. never revealed its prior Ghost Rider’s human form, Gosling could be retroactively established as the same Rider who resurrected Robbie years before the upcoming 2028 movie.

On the other hand, Marvel may want to avoid the past continuity (but not break it either). This could be done if Gosling were instead cast as Danny Ketch, Blaze’s long-lost brother who eventually became his own Spirit of Vengeance in the comics (and has never been featured in live-action before). Marvel could leave Robbie and Blaze’s previous history largely untouched if they wanted, while still moving forward with Gosling’s brand-new version.

Perhaps there’s a middle ground to be struck as well. There was a time when Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was so interconnected that it featured big-screen MCU characters like Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Peggy Carter, The Howling Commandos, Jasper Sitwell, Doctor List, Lady Sif, President Ellis, Gideon Malick, and more. Rather than continuing to ignore the beloved series save for the odd reference here and there, Marvel Studios has a chance to erase the years of confusion and confirm S.H.I.E.L.D.’s canonical status via Gosling’s imminent MCU debut as Ghost Rider.

There could even be a compromise, as I doubt many S.H.I.E.L.D.fans would be upset if only the first four seasons were confirmed to be part of the official Earth-616 continuity, while the rest of the show was set elsewhere in the multiverse on a different timeline. For the time being, we’ll have to wait and see once we learn more about this new Ghost Rider coming to the big screen.

Ghost Rider is set to release in 2028 from Marvel Studios.

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