Nicolas Cage Gives Official Verdict On Ryan Gosling’s Ghost Rider

The Spirit of Vengeance is coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Phase 6 is getting closer to its conclusion, with Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars slated as the remaining upcoming MCU movies before The Multiverse Saga is over. However, while one era is almost over for the franchise, another one will begin in 2028.

Ryan Gosling’s Ghost Rider casting was revealed back at San Diego Comic-Con 2026 during the Hall H presentation, as the Star Wars: Starfighter lead will headline his own superhero movie in Phase 7. Nearly four months after the announcement, Nicolas Cage, who famously brought the iconic character to the big screen through two solo films in the mid-2000s, is finally speaking out about Gosling taking on the Marvel icon, as he spoke with The Hollywood Reporter in a new interview where he shared his reaction.

Cage had nothing but praise for Gosling, as he stated to the trade, “Ryan’s going to do his thing with it and I’m looking forward to seeing it. Ryan knows how I feel about him as an actor; we’ve had nice conversations and we stay in touch. I was happy for him and wished him best of luck on his adventures and I look forward to seeing the movie.” Ghost Rider isn’t Cage’s only history with the Marvel brand, as he recently played Ben Reilly in Spider-Noir for Prime Video, after having previously voiced a different version of Spider-Man Noir through the animated Spider-Verse franchise.

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While the ongoing theory is that Gosling is joining the MCU timeline as the Johnny Blaze incarnation of Ghost Rider, that has yet to be fully confirmed by Marvel Studios, as Kevin Feige shared during SDCC that it would be up to the actor to reveal to the world which iteration he is portraying in the MCU. The executive stated back in July, “I am going to let Ryan reveal what he wants to reveal when he wants to reveal it, and what he wanted to reveal today was he’s playing Ghost Rider.”

The Ghost Rider movie, which is set to be directed by Shawn Levy, will mark the director’s second MCU project, after he helmed 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine. For Gosling and the filmmaker, the Marvel feature will mark a reunion, following Star Wars: Starfighter. Principal photography is set to begin in spring 2027, as THR previously revealed that production will be based in New York. As of writing, plot details are still being kept heavily under wraps.

Gosling’s comic book installment will reportedly star Connor Storrie as the villain, as the Heated Rivalry star was revealed in October to be in talks with Marvel Studios for the Phase 7 installment. However, it’s not known yet which foe Storrie will portray, as there are numerous characters from Ghost Rider’s mythology that the MCU could utilize. Hopefully, as filming takes place next year, more updates will arrive sooner rather than later as 2026 gets closer to its end.

Ghost Rider opens in theaters on July 28, 2028.

Ghost Rider