Ghost Rider shake-up: Nicolas Cage responds to Ryan Gosling taking over

At the Madden premiere on November 4, Nicolas Cage said he’s already spoken with Ryan Gosling about taking over as Marvel ’s hellfire biker — and he’s all for it.

“Ryan’s going to do his thing with it and I’m looking forward to seeing it,”

Cage told The Hollywood Reporter that he and Gosling have been in touch, he respects him as an actor and he’s happy with the choice. There’s a personal thread here too: Gosling’s partner, Eva Mendes, played Roxanne Simpson opposite Cage’s Johnny Blaze in 2007’s Ghost Rider.

Cage first rode as Blaze in Ghost Rider (2007) and returned for Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012). Nearly two decades later, the skull’s still flaming — just on a new head.

Ghost Rider revival

Marvel announced its new Ghost Rider movie at San Diego Comic-Con with Shawn Levy (Deadpool & Wolverine ) directing and Jonathan Tropper writing. Gosling has called the character a longtime goal, and the film is set for July 28, 2028.

Connor Storrie (Heated Rivalry) is in talks to play the villain, according to the project’s current lineup.

Before the bike: Star Wars

Gosling and Levy reunite first on Star Wars: Starfighter , a standalone set about five years after The Rise of Skywalker. Gosling stars as Kade Auberon, a cynical rogue forced to confront a buried past, paired with a young companion played by Flynn Gray.

Footage shown at D23 opens with the duo beside a decommissioned craft rumored to be blisteringly fast; once Kade coaxes it back to life, the preview careens through alien vistas, flying droids and fresh interstellar trouble.

The cast also includes:

• Amy Adams
• Matt Smith
• Mia Goth
• Aaron Pierre
• Daniel Ings
• Jamael Westman

Tropper wrote the screenplay here as well, marking another Levy–Gosling team-up before their Marvel handoff. Lucasfilm has dated Starfighter for May 28, 2027 , timed to the 50th anniversary of the original Star Wars.

Ghost Rider follows on July 28, 2028.