Ryan Gosling is just the latest Hollywood superstar to see his name dragged into the Marvel Cinematic Universe rumor circus. Specifically, reports suggest that Gosling will play Nova in the MCU. But, it appears that Gosling is not keen on playing the “Human Rocket”. Instead, Gosling revealed that he’s much more open to playing a different MCU superhero.
In a recent Happy Sad Confused podcast appearance, Gosling mentioned that he’d like to play Ghost Rider in the MCU.
Here’s what Josh Horowitz had to say in a recent tweet:
Next week my full chat w/ Ryan Gosling for @MTVNews. But for now, an honest to goodness EXCLUSIVE.
Ryan and I chatted about the Nova rumors 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.
Gosling isn’t the first established name to throw his name into the ring to play Johnny Blaze in the MCU. We shouldn’t forget that Nicolas Cage already had a chance to portray Ghost Rider in a live-action adaptation with 2007’s Ghost Rider and its sequel, 2011’s Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.
Meanwhile, Gabriel Luna joined ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D as the Robbie Reyes version of Ghost Rider before it was canceled once Disney and Marvel Studios declined to renew the licenses of Netflix and ABC Studios.
Finally, Cage has expressed his interest in returning as Ghost Rider, as has Norman Reedus.
The chances are still high that Marvel Studios will eventually pick up Luna’s Robbie Reyes version for a spin-off. After all, the Ghost Rider spin-off had gone into pre-production until Kevin Feige took over all operations after Marvel Studios absorbed Marvel Television. If the show came that close to being made, Luna could be the first Ghost Rider we will see in the MCU. But, at this point, all bets are off.
At the moment, Marvel Studios hasn’t confirmed its plans to bring Ghost Rider into the fold. However, now that Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff is Scarlet Witch and Mahershala Ali is set to join the MCU as Blade, it’s a great time to introduce another superhero with occult-based powers into the mix. Who knows? The MCU could form the Midnight Sons after the popular comic book run gets a video game adaptation later this year.
Speaking of the MCU, audiences can look forward to watching the next MCU series, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, starting on August 17. In the meantime, Thor: Love and Thunder is available to watch in theaters. It is currently on track to becoming the most financially successful Thor movie ever.
