Ryan Gosling will play Ghost Rider in a standalone Marvel Cinematic Universe film, with Shawn Levy directing and a 2028 release on the calendar. Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige announced the project onstage at San Diego Comic-Con's Hall H on 26 July 2026, according to Variety.

Gosling becomes the second actor to lead a Ghost Rider feature film, following Nicolas Cage, who played the flaming-skull biker in Sony's 2007 Ghost Rider and its 2011 sequel Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. A different version of the character, the Robbie Reyes incarnation, was portrayed by Gabriel Luna on the ABC series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. A planned Hulu standalone series built around Luna's Rider was scrapped in 2019. The film rights to Ghost Rider reverted to Marvel Studios before this new film was announced.

Levy is a familiar hand at Marvel. He directed and produced Deadpool & Wolverine, the 2024 hit that paired Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman. He and Gosling already have a working relationship: the two collaborated on the upcoming Star Wars film Star Wars: Starfighter, set for release on 28 May 2027. That places Gosling in two of Disney's largest franchises within roughly a year of each other.

For context on the scale of these slots: a standalone MCU film carries a production budget typically in the $150-250 million range, with marketing spend on top. Marvel's release calendar is set years ahead, and a 2028 berth means Ghost Rider will enter a pipeline already populated by other announced titles. The studio's Hall H panels at Comic-Con have long served as the stage for its biggest franchise announcements — Feige's choice to plant the Ghost Rider flag there signals where the property sits in Marvel's priorities.

Ghost Rider, for anyone who hasn't met him, is a Marvel Comics character bonded to a supernatural entity that turns his head into a flaming skull and his motorcycle into a weapon. Created in the early 1970s, the Rider has cycled through several human hosts across decades of comics. Which version Gosling will play has not been specified in the announcement.

No further casting, screenwriter, or specific release date beyond the 2028 window has been confirmed.