MOVIES

Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze, Eva Mendes as Roxanne Simpson, Wes Bentley as Blackheart, Peter Fonda as Mephistopheles and Sam Elliott as the Caretaker — a retired Rider revealed to be Carter Slade. The plot adapts the 1972 origin and adds the Contract of San Venganza, a deed for a thousand souls that Blackheart wants and Slade hid.

Shot largely in Melbourne, Australia, it opened in February 2007 to poor reviews and strong business, roughly $228 million worldwide on a reported $110 million budget. Cage, a long-time fan with a Ghost Rider tattoo he had to cover for the role, played the Rider as a Southern gentleman with a jellybean habit.

Rider design

Practical leathers, CG skull and flame; the bike transforms into a stretched, skeletal chopper

Villains

Blackheart and the Hidden — Abigor, Wallow, Gressil

Rating

PG-13

Extended cut

A longer cut was released on home video

A soft reboot rather than a sequel. Cage returns as a Blaze hiding in Eastern Europe, recruited by the wine-drinking warrior monk Moreau (Idris Elba) to protect a boy, Danny, from Roarke (Ciarán Hinds) — the devil in human form — who wants the child as a vessel. Johnny Whitworth plays Ray Carrigan, transformed into a version of Blackout.

Shot in Romania and Turkey with the Crank directors' handheld, frenetic style, the film reworked the Rider as a charred, tar-black skull and had Cage perform the Rider himself rather than through a double. It grossed around $132 million worldwide and was rated PG-13 despite a harder tone.

Rider design

Blackened skull, smoke and charcoal texture, flame that flares with rage

Vehicle

Yamaha VMAX-based bike; the Rider also hijacks a giant Bagger 288 excavator

Legacy

Cage's final Ghost Rider; rights reverted to Marvel in 2013

Gabriel Luna played Robbie Reyes in the fourth season's opening arc, complete with the Hell Charger, the burning-jacket transformation and the Darkhold. It was the first live-action Ghost Rider produced by Marvel and the first time Reyes appeared outside comics. A planned Hulu spin-off with Luna was cancelled in 2019.

Rider

Robbie Reyes

Uncle Eli

José Zúñiga

Status

Continuity with the MCU is officially unclear

Announced at San Diego Comic-Con on July 25–26, 2026: Ryan Gosling will play Johnny Blaze in a standalone Marvel Studios film directed by Shawn Levy (Deadpool & Wolverine) from a screenplay by Jonathan Tropper. Gosling told the Hall H crowd he had wanted the role for a very long time; Levy said the idea grew out of their downtime on Star Wars: Starfighter. Disney set the release date of July 28, 2028 in August 2026, making it one of three Marvel films that year alongside the X-Men film and Black Panther 3.

Star

Ryan Gosling as Johnny Blaze

Writer

Jonathan Tropper

Studio

Marvel Studios / Disney

Release

July 28, 2028

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