Marvel Studios announced Ryan Gosling will star as Ghost Rider in a standalone film scheduled for 2028 release [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]. The announcement came on July 26, 2026, during Marvel's Hall H presentation at San Diego Comic-Con 2026 [1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 9].
The film will be directed by Shawn Levy, known for his work on Deadpool & Wolverine and who previously collaborated with Gosling on Star Wars: Starfighter, releasing May 28, 2027 [1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]. Levy said, "We spent a lot of time last year making Starfighter, and the opportunity as Ryan started talking about this character, I was like, ‘Bro, let’s ride.’ We’ll see you in 2028!" [8]
Ghost Rider is a classic Marvel supernatural antihero who first appeared in 1972 as Johnny Blaze, a motorcycle stuntman who made a deal with the devil Mephisto [1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9]. The character previously appeared in two live-action films starring Nicolas Cage in 2007 and 2011, with film rights reverting to Marvel in 2013 [1, 5, 6, 8, 9]. Another version of Ghost Rider, Robbie Reyes, was featured on the TV series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. played by Gabriel Luna, though this is not the Johnny Blaze incarnation [1, 8, 9].
Ryan Gosling first publicly expressed interest in playing Ghost Rider in 2022 and held discussions with Marvel Studios as recently as March 2026 [1, 2, 4]. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige said Gosling approached Marvel with a "specific vision" for the character drawn from particular comics, but the exact Ghost Rider incarnation has not been confirmed [4]. Feige said, "I'll let him unveil that as he wants to." Earlier, Feige praised Gosling and said, "I'd love to find a place for him in the MCU." [2, 4]
Gosling himself said, "I had wanted to play the character for a very long time" and called the negotiations "a complicated situation" [4, 7].
The new Ghost Rider film will follow the release of Star Wars: Starfighter on May 28, 2027, reuniting Gosling and Levy [1, 8, 9]. The Ghost Rider film is scheduled for release in 2028 but has not disclosed a precise date [1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9].
