Ryan Gosling will play Ghost Rider in a standalone Marvel Studios film arriving in 2028, Kevin Feige announced from the Hall H stage at San Diego Comic-Con 2026. Shawn Levy directs from a script by Jonathan Tropper — and Gosling pitched the project to Marvel himself.
What Marvel Announced
Kevin Feige brought out the news near the end of Marvel Studios’ Hall H panel on Saturday, July 25. The confirmed details:
- Star: Ryan Gosling as Ghost Rider
- Director: Shawn Levy (Deadpool & Wolverine, Free Guy)
- Writer: Jonathan Tropper (Star Wars: Starfighter)
- Release: 2028 — no specific date given
Gosling told the crowd it was a character he had wanted to play for a long time. Reporting from the panel indicates he took the idea to Feige rather than the other way round.
Who Is Ghost Rider?
Ghost Rider is Marvel’s supernatural bounty hunter: a human bonded to a Spirit of Vengeance, transformed into a flaming skeleton who rides a hellfire motorcycle and burns the guilty with the Penance Stare.
Marvel has not confirmed which Ghost Rider Gosling plays. The two obvious candidates:
| Johnny Blaze | Robbie Reyes | |
|---|---|---|
| Debut | 1972 | 2014 |
| Vehicle | Motorcycle | Muscle car |
| Origin | Stunt rider, demonic bargain | LA teenager, possessed Charger |
| Screen history | Two Nicolas Cage films | Gabriel Luna, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S4 |
Gosling is 45. Blaze is the safer bet on age alone.
The Casting Is Not the Interesting Part — the Director Is
Most of the coverage is treating Gosling as the story. The genuinely strange decision is Shawn Levy.
Look at what Levy actually makes. Real Steel, Free Guy, The Adam Project, Deadpool & Wolverine — his signature is comedy-inflected sincerity. He is arguably the best working director of the crowd-pleasing, emotionally uncomplicated blockbuster. He has never made a horror film.
Ghost Rider is Marvel’s most explicitly horror-coded major character. The Penance Stare is a torture device. The premise is damnation. Handing it to the Free Guy director is either a deliberate softening of the property into something four-quadrant, or it is Levy stepping well outside everything he has done for twenty years.
There is a reason to believe the second reading. Marvel has never actually released a horror film. Werewolf by Night was a 52-minute Disney+ special. Blade has been in development since 2019 and has cycled through directors and writers without shooting. If Marvel wants a horror-adjacent tentpole, it has spent seven years failing to produce one — and Levy is the one director on its roster who reliably delivers a finished, well-liked movie on schedule. Read that way, this is a competence hire, not a tonal one.
Why Gosling Pitching It Matters
The detail worth holding onto is that this came from the actor. That has a precedent worth noting: the best-received version of a difficult Marvel property in the last decade — Deadpool — happened because Ryan Reynolds spent years pushing for it against studio indifference.
Actor-originated comic book films tend to arrive with a point of view already attached, which is exactly what the two previous Ghost Rider films lacked. The 2007 Ghost Rider and 2011’s Spirit of Vengeance both starred Nicolas Cage, both were critically panned, and neither could decide whether it was a horror film, a comedy, or a superhero movie.
That is a low bar. But it is also the clearest evidence yet that someone involved has a specific idea of what this should be.
Where It Fits in Marvel’s Slate
2028 puts Ghost Rider after the current Avengers cycle resolves. Gosling and Levy are also making Star Wars: Starfighter together, due May 28, 2027, which likely sets the earliest realistic production window.
For everything else from the panel, see our full Marvel Hall H 2026 recap, and our guide to Avengers: Doomsday, which arrives December 18. Ghost Rider also ranks among the most powerful fire-based heroes in comics.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does the Ryan Gosling Ghost Rider movie come out?
Marvel says 2028. No specific release date was announced at the Comic-Con panel.
Who is directing Marvel’s Ghost Rider?
Shawn Levy, who directed Deadpool & Wolverine and Free Guy. Jonathan Tropper is writing the script.
Which Ghost Rider is Ryan Gosling playing?
Marvel has not said. Johnny Blaze and Robbie Reyes are the most likely candidates; Gosling’s age makes Blaze the more probable choice, but nothing is confirmed.
Is this connected to the Nicolas Cage Ghost Rider films?
No. Those two films (2007 and 2011) were made by Sony under a separate licence. This is a Marvel Studios production set in the MCU.
Sources: Marvel Studios’ official announcement, Variety, and The Hollywood Reporter.
