Is Ghost Rider Part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Is Ghost Rider Part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe

There are various Ghost Riders somewhere inside or outside the MCU’s canon. However, Johnny Blaze has been remarkably absent from the shared universe.

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Is Ghost Rider Part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is so expansive now that it often becomes difficult to keep track of – is Ghost Rider part of it? The fiery skull’s first live-action appearance came in 2007 with Ghost Rider, a solo movie led by Nicolas Cage and directed by Mark Steven Johnson that showed Johny Blaze’s first transformation into the titular demonic angel. It was followed five years later by Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, this time directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor. Both installments came out in an era where cinematic crossovers weren’t widespread. Plus, neither movie got enough critical acclaim or box office success to justify one.

Despite the comic-accurate design of the character, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance performed so badly that it tanked the Ghost Rider franchise’s prospects for a third installment, putting a lid on the possibility of a future crossover. In 2013, the rights to the character reverted to Marvel, and in 2016, Ghost Rider was introduced in season 4, episode 1 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. But instead of Johnny Blaze, Gabriel Luna portrayed Robbie Reyes, the next host of the Ghost Rider. Reyes started out as an antagonistic character who clashes with Quake (Chloe Bennett) before becoming a trusted ally of the team. His predecessor, Johnny Blaze, only got a cameo in episode 6. During the midseason finale, Robbie Reyes finally faced his evil uncle Eli Morrow (José Zúñiga) and sacrificed himself in order to stop him.

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Every Upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe Movie

Similarly to Spider-Man, Sony owned the rights for Ghost Rider ever since Marvel licensed a major part of their most popular properties back in the 1990s in order to avoid bankruptcy. Therefore, Sony produced both Nicolas Cage-led Ghost Rider movies with little to no intervention from Marvel Studios. The MCU’s debut with Iron Man would only come the next year after the first Ghost Rider released. So, any connection between them was off the table. Although the Ghost Rider movies have aged quite well in relation to how disappointing they were considered at first – and as much as their plots leave enough room for them to coexist with the MCU’s canon, they don’t have any links with any part of the shared universe.

As for Robbie Reyes, the jury is still out on the canon status of the entirety of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the MCU. The show was originally intended to be a bridge between the movies and other TV titles, but it actually evolved into a differing perspective on the same universe. Given that the show reacted logically to the events of the MCU in its few first seasons, the introduction of Robbie Reyes’ Ghost Rider could perfectly fit in the MCU. But given that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is likely to completely deviate from the universe’s main timeline by the time it ends, it’s safe to say that Ghost Rider has yet to arrive in the MCU officially. Regarding the possibility of Robbie Reyes’ mentor, Johnny Blaze, being Nicolas Cage’s iteration, there’s nothing that prevents fans from considering it a fun thought exercise, as the show dismissed the character before it could present any proof to debunk it.

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Ghost Rider is not part of the MCU until proven otherwise. However, when all the previous details are considered, Nicolas Cage’s Johnny Blaze and Gabriel Luna’s Robbie Reyes could be remote appendages to the MCU the same way Ang Lee’s Hulk and Netflix’s Daredevil present harmless complements to its canon. For now, the most likely way the MCU could incorporate, or at least acknowledge, any existing Ghost Rider iteration is to bring it back through the multiverse in WandaVision, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, or even a live-action Spider-Verse that reintroduces Tobey Maguire’s and Andrew Garfield’s versions of Spider-Man.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/ghost-rider-movie-nicolas-cage-mcu-rights-explained/

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