With Avengers: Doomsday looming on the horizon and Marvel’s X-Men set to make their long-awaited cinematic splash in May of 2028, Marvel Studios is once again aggressively shifting pieces across the board to retake the pop-culture landscape. But Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and the Children of the Atom aren’t the only ones commanding headline space. Word on the street is that Marvel has been taking meetings with Deadpool & Wolverine helmer Shawn Levy for a fresh Ghost Rider feature film, starring none other than Ryan Gosling as the Spirit of Vengeance.
Details surrounding the project remain locked tight in the Disney vault, but Gosling’s casting as Johnny Blaze isn’t the only rumor kicking up dust. Heated Rivalry standout Connor Storrie is reportedly in talks for a villainous role, and according to industry insider Daniel RPK, he might have some high-profile company. Rumor has it Sacha Baron Cohen is being eyed to reprise his role as Mephisto for the hell-on-wheels spectacle.
Cohen officially made his MCU debut in the Ironheart series, operating in the shadows alongside Anthony Ramos’s Parker Robbins (The Hood) and Dominique Thorne’s Riri Williams. As Marvel’s resident cosmic extortion artist, Mephisto isn’t literally the biblical Satan, though he’s more than happy to lean into the pitchfork aesthetic if it helps close a deal. He’s an ancient, extra-dimensional demon lord who runs his realm like a high-stakes corporate law firm. Mephisto doesn’t bother taking your soul by force; he bides his time with terrifying patience, waiting until you’re desperate enough to hand it over on a silver platter in exchange for magical artifacts and dark bargains.
While Cohen’s return remains unconfirmed for now, slotting Mephisto into a Ghost Rider picture is an absolute no-brainer. In the comics, the Spirit of Vengeance’s entire tragic lineage is tethered to Mephisto’s Faustian puppet-mastery. If the MCU is finally ready to embrace supernatural terror and practical demonology over standard CGI beat-’em-ups, letting Gosling’s leather-clad antihero lock horns with Cohen’s devilish dealmaker is precisely the shot of fiery adrenaline the multiverse needs.