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Ryan Gosling's Ghost Rider movie for Marvel Studios shouldn't just be R-rated... it should be terrifying

Ryan Gosling and Shawn Levy should make Ghost Rider as scary as possible when he comes back to the MCU in 2028.

SDCC 2026 Article Header Ryan Gosling On A Motorcycle — Image credit: Focus Features / Popverse

Features by Trent Cannon, Senior Contributing writer

Published on Sun Jul 26 2026

Popverse's coverage of Comic-Con International: San Diego 2026 is brought to you by Dark Horse Comics.

The MCU has a new Ghost Rider, and it is Johnny Blaze. Playing him is Ryan Gosling, who is reuniting with Star Wars: Starfighter director Shawn Levy for his first Marvel Studios film. We don’t know much else about the new Ghost Rider movie other than it has a 2028 release window, but we do know that it should absolutely be an R-rated movie following the success of Deadpool & Wolverine.

That movie, which was also directed by Shawn Levy, already proved that there is an appetite for R-rated MCU films. Like Deadpool, whose foul mouth and penchant for bloody murder set him apart from most superheroes, Johnny Blaze is difficult to see as a traditional hero. He is the Spirit of Vengeance, and not just because of Nicholas Cage’s previous outing as the character.

The entire point of Johnny Blaze is that he has the powers of a demon, which allow him to punish the wicked. He is scary and intense enough to inspire fear in the worst of humanity. Ghost Rider’s main power is forcing people to feel the inescapable weight of their actions, crushing their psyche beneath their guilt.

I’m not arguing that Ghost Rider should feel like Deadpool & Wolverine. If anything, Ryan Gosling should play the role fairly straight and perhaps even restrained while in his flaming skull form. However, for everyone around him, the sight of Ghost Rider should be pants-shittingly intense. This Ghost Rider movie should feel like The Terminator if we were meant to be rooting for the cybernetic killer. This should be a horror movie with everyone terrified of when the monster will next appear on screen. Otherwise, we’ll end up with a sanitized version of the character that we got in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and no one wants that.

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About Comic-Con International: San Diego

Comic-Con is the premier event for all things comics and related popular art, including movies, television, gaming, interactive multimedia, and so much more! Enjoy cosplay galore and take part in unique programming, exclusive previews, and presentations, not to mention the expansive and diverse Exhibit Hall featuring merchandise and displays representing all fandoms.