Ryan Gosling is currently starring inThe Gray Manopposite Chris Evans and Ana de Armas, but recent rumors about a possible MCU role prompted the actor to reveal that he’d rather playGhost Riderin the superhero franchise.
Gosling has evidently been one of the names thrown around as a rumored contender for the role ofMarvel Studios' Nova, which the actor himself shot down. While Gosling may not be appearing in any upcoming Marvel Studios projects, he expressed his interest in reprisingNicolas Cage’s iconic rolefor this next phase of the MCU.
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During Gosling’s recent appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Josh Horowitz learned a juicy detail about the actor’s desired MCU role: Gosling wants to be the next Ghost Rider. “Next week my full chat w/ Ryan Gosling for @MTVNews. But for now, an honest to goodness EXCLUSIVE,” Horowitz tweeted. “Ryan and I chatted about theNovarumors yesterday which he said aren’t true. BUT this morning Ryan reached out to me to say there is one superhero he wants to play…GHOST RIDER.”
Even though theBlade Runner 2049star has debunked the rumors about his involvement inMarvel Studios' upcoming Nova project, his excitement about potentially reintroducing Johnny Blaze has sparked some fan theories. This wouldn’t be the first time a rumoredGhost Riderproject has been in the works. Last year, the Robbie Reyes version of the character from ABC’sAgents of S.H.I.E.L.D.was reported to be getting a spin-off series, with Gabriel Luna set to play the street racer.
However, in an October 2021 interview with ComicBook, Luna discussed why the project was canceled. As Luna recalled, theRobbie Reyes Ghost Riderseries searched for a showrunner long enough that the Marvel TV team kept paying him to keep his schedule open in order to ensure he was available to play the lead role. Even when Disney acquired Fox and launched Disney Plus, the Ghost Rider series was able to move into pre-production. However, once Marvel Studios absorbed Marvel Television and the former company’s president Kevin Feige was charged with overseeing all television productions, Marvel TV exec Jeph Loeb was ousted and all of Marvel Television’s productions were either cancelled or put on hold.
The fiery biker was first brought to life byCage in the 2007 filmGhost Riderand again in the 2012 sequelGhost Rider Spirit of Revenge. Since then, Marvel has not touched the character, seemingly waiting for the right opportunity to do so. Whether Gosling is now presenting that right opportunity will remain to be seen.
