Marvel’s “Ghost Rider” is picking up speed. Connor Storrie, the breakout star of the hockey romance series “Heated Rivalry,” is in talks to play the villain opposite Ryan Gosling in the studio’s new take on the flaming-skulled antihero, Variety reported on Tuesday. The Hollywood Reporter first broke the news. Marvel Studios does not comment on casting.
Here is everything we know about the project so far.
The film: who’s making it and when it arrives
Shawn Levy is directing “Ghost Rider” from a script by Jonathan Tropper, who wrote “Star Wars: Starfighter.” The movie is set for release on July 28, 2028.
Levy and Gosling are producing alongside Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito and Stephen Broussard, with Richie Palmer and Jessie Henderson as executive producers. According to Variety, the plan is to start shooting in New York next year.
Feige surprised fans by announcing the movie during Marvel’s Hall H presentation at San Diego Comic-Con this summer. “As you know, this is a character I’ve wanted to play for a very long time,” Gosling told the crowd.
Who is Connor Storrie?
Storrie’s rise has been fast. The Texas native was reportedly waiting tables at Laurel Grill in Culver City before landing the role of Russian hockey star Ilya Romanov in “Heated Rivalry,” the rivals-to-lovers series that made him a pop culture name.
Since then he has:
- Earned a Primetime Emmy nomination for guest hosting “Saturday Night Live”
- Landed a supporting role opposite Billie Eilish in Sarah Polley’s film adaptation of “The Bell Jar” for Focus Features
- Started filming the second season of “Heated Rivalry,” which is due on HBO Max next spring
Landing a Marvel villain would be another big step for an actor who was largely unknown not long ago.
Which Ghost Rider, and which villain?
That is the big question. Marvel has not confirmed which version of Ghost Rider Gosling will play, so it is also unclear which villain Storrie would portray.
The best-known version is Johnny Blaze, the motorcycle stuntman who sells his soul to the devil Mephisto to save his father. Nicolas Cage played Blaze in the 2007 movie “Ghost Rider” and its 2011 sequel. After the film rights returned to Marvel Studios, Gabriel Luna played a different Ghost Rider, Robby Reyes, on ABC’s “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”
Mephisto himself has already arrived in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Sacha Baron Cohen played him in the Disney+ series “Ironheart,” but Marvel has not said whether the character will appear in “Ghost Rider” at all.
Why Gosling as Ghost Rider makes sense
For years, Gosling was a fan-favorite pick for the role, and the casting fits a pattern in his career. He has played quiet, intense loners behind the wheel in films like “Drive,” and in “The Fall Guy” he played a stuntman, the same day job Johnny Blaze has in the comics. Pairing him with Levy, who directed the hit “Deadpool & Wolverine,” suggests Marvel is aiming for a big, crowd-pleasing take on a darker character.
What to watch for next
Casting news tends to arrive in waves once a Marvel project gets close to filming. Things to keep an eye on:
- Official confirmation of Storrie’s role and character name.
- Which Ghost Rider Gosling is playing, whether Johnny Blaze, Robby Reyes or another version.
- Supporting cast announcements ahead of next year’s start of production in New York.
The bottom line
With Gosling in the saddle, Levy behind the camera and one of TV’s hottest young stars possibly lined up as the bad guy, “Ghost Rider” is quickly becoming one of Marvel’s most intriguing upcoming films. Fans will have to wait until summer 2028 to see it, but the engine is clearly running.
Image: Big motorcycle in Tokyo by Syced via Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0
