Ryan Gosling Announced as Disney’s Marvel Ghost Rider During SDCC
Marvel Studios confirmed Ryan Gosling as Ghost Rider at San Diego Comic-Con, in a 2028 film from Shawn Levy. It’s a dream role Gosling has chased for years, and it makes him the face of two Disney franchises at once, since he’s also fronting Star Wars: Starfighter.
Ryan Gosling finally got the part he’s been asking about for years.
At Marvel Studios‘ Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday, studio boss Kevin Feige brought Gosling onstage, complete with a revving motorcycle, and confirmed it: Gosling is the new Ghost Rider. His first superhero role, in a movie set for 2028.
The reveal set off what one outlet called pandemonium in the room. This one’s been rumored for over a year, and Gosling’s actual appearance is what made it real.
Ryan Gosling is playing Johnny Blaze in the Marvel Ghost Rider movie
Gosling is playing Johnny Blaze, the original Ghost Rider from the comics.
Blaze is a stunt motorcycle rider who makes a deal with the devil and gets bonded to a demon, which turns him into a flaming-skulled antihero called the Spirit of Vengeance. The character was created by writer Gary Friedrich and artist Mike Ploog, first showing up in 1972.
Shawn Levy is directing. Marvel fans know Levy from Deadpool & Wolverine, and he debuted the Ghost Rider logo during the same panel. The movie is aimed at theaters in 2028.
Gosling made clear this wasn’t a job he took lightly. “You know, this is a character I’ve wanted to play for a long time,” he told the Hall H crowd, per ScreenRant.
Ryan Gosling now fronts two Disney franchises at once
Here’s the part that makes this a bigger deal for Disney than one casting.
Gosling isn’t just joining Marvel, which Disney owns. He’s also the lead in Star Wars: Starfighter, the new Star Wars movie hitting theaters May 28, 2027. Disney owns that one too.
So one actor is about to headline pieces of Disney’s two biggest franchises back to back. And the connection runs deeper than the same parent company, because Shawn Levy directed Starfighter as well. Gosling and Levy wrapped that film recently, and now they’re running it back for Ghost Rider.
That’s a lot of trust to put in one actor-director pairing. Disney is betting Gosling can anchor Star Wars in 2027 and Marvel in 2028, which is about as big a two-year run as the studio can hand somebody.
Ghost Rider has had a rocky road to the MCU
Ghost Rider is a character Marvel has been trying to get right on screen for a long time.
Nicolas Cage played Blaze in two films, in 2007 and 2011, both made by Sony and both poorly reviewed. The rights later returned to Marvel Studios.
More recently, Gabriel Luna played a different version of the character, Robbie Reyes, on ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. That show referenced the movie universe but was never made official canon, so Gosling’s version may end up being the first true Ghost Rider inside the main Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Not everyone’s sold, for the record. Alongside all the fan excitement, a few holdouts online groaned about another big-name actor signing up for a Marvel movie. That debate isn’t new and it won’t be settled by a casting announcement.
But the reaction in the room told the real story. Fans have wanted Gosling as Ghost Rider for years, treating it as perfect casting long before it was real, and on Saturday Marvel finally gave it to them.
Now Gosling just has to survive Star Wars first. Flaming skull optional.
Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.
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Hat Tips:
Marvel Studios (July 26, 2026), the official Hall H announcement, the Shawn Levy directing confirmation, and the 2028 window
Variety (July 26, 2026), the Feige reveal, Levy’s Hall H remarks, and the Starfighter release date
The Hollywood Reporter (July 26, 2026), the Johnny Blaze casting, the character’s 1972 comic origin, and the Sony-to-Marvel rights history
ScreenRant (July 26, 2026), the Gosling “dream role” quote from the panel
Inverse (July 26, 2026), the Gabriel Luna / Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. canon context