Comic Book Casting: The GHOST RIDER Live-Action Movie

Every Monday here at iFanboy, we look at comics’ greatest characters and stories and try to imagine what they’d be like in film or television. From the story concept to the people in charge and all the way down to who’d play who, we do it and we call it Comic Book Casting.

Ghost Rider has a enormous presence. Unfortunately, neither comics nor movies have been able to translate that mainstream popularity into a consistent and long-term success story.
But despite all that — and abysmal Nicholas Cage movies — I think there’s a chance for Ghost Rider to burn bright and not fade away. Marvel recently re-acquired the rights to do Ghost Rider movies, and although I wouldn’t expect him to be starring in the next Avengers flick I think the House of Ideas would be stupid not to attempt something. All they need to do is to take that burning visage of a flame-soaked motorcyclist and expand it into a three-dimensional, honest story. Here’s how I’d do it.

The Concept:

Everyone knows that any good Ghost Rider movie needs some flaming skulls, motorcycle stunts, and that creepy penance stare. But what we’ve learned from previous movies is that it needs more than that. Just in the same way Jaws wasn’t in every seen inside the original Jaws movie, Ghost Rider himself should be a a special treat inside a larger dramatic piece for a Ghost Rider film to work. For one it saves on the special effects budget, but it allows you to focus and make those moments where Ghost Rider does appear the most unholy, fire-ridden spectacle there is.

I see a rebooted Ghost Rider movie as a story of the devil’s bargain in the vein of The Devil & Daniel Webster. Daredevil motorcycle rider and stuntman Johnny Blaze finds out his adoptive father and mentor Crash Simpson is dying of cancer, and goes down a dark path and appeals to anyone listening for a way to save him: and Mephisto shows up with a proposition. This ain’t One More Day, it’s something more. Blaze makes a bargain with Mephisto to save his mentor from cancer in exchange for his soul, only to see him die in an accident while he’s riding high on his second chance of life. It then becomes a battle for Blaze’s soul, played out internally and externally — cue Ghost Rider — when Blaze somehow manages to control the demonic spirit afixed to his body by Mephisto originally intended to make sure Blaze didn’t back out of his deal.

And before I forget, Ghost Rider needs comedy. The Cage movies overlooked those elements enormously, and they suffered because of it. Imagine the Thor movie without those comedic lines and moments. See what I’m saying?

The Director:

Finding a director to piece this puzzle together is a hard one — but for me, Rob Zombie seems like an unconventional — but actually conventional choice. Zombie’s turned around one horror franchise in Halloween, and he’s carefully curated a unique style for his work between House of 1000 Corpses and The Lords of Salem that could translate well, albiet tempered somewhat, into a great Ghost Rider film.

The Cast:

Ghost Rider / Johnny Blaze – Joel Edgerton: It’s only a matter of time before someone puts Edgerton into superheroes — I’d argue he’d be better as someone more down-to-earth as Blaze than someone dressed in tights. Calling Ghost Rider down to earth might seem duplicitous, but compared to the four-color heroes of the Avengers and the X-Men it’s sort of true. Edgerton could really flesh out that motorcycle daredevil role but also bring some emotion to it rather than just being a stand-in for the coming barrage of special effects. In terms of playing Ghost Rider, I think it should almost be played like Jaws — barely seen in the movie, but always on the edge of the screen with fans and the cast waiting for him to pop up.

Roxanne Simpson – Rosamund Pike: Dating a guy who’s on fire doesn’t seem like good relationship advice, but amongst all the would-be lovers of Johnny Blaze, chief amongst those has been his childhood friend Roxanne Simpson. They grew up together in Crash Simpson’s daredevil act, although not so much in a brother-sister role thankfully. I’d enjoy seeing Rosamund Pike, who was the best thing in the poorly done Wrath of the Titans film, flesh out the role of Roxanne and make Ghost Rider more of a family story than a loner pic.

Crash Simpson – Dick Van Dyke: Given Van Dyke’s comedy pedigree he might seem a bit odd in a Ghost Rider movie, but that’s partly why I chose him. The other half is in the rare time he’s done a drama — or played something for more than just laughs — he’s nailed it. I’d love to see Van Dyke play the salty daredevil Crash Simpson and act as a father figure for Blaze, but also inject some much needed heart and humor to this film; something the Nicholas Cage films sorely needed.

Mephisto – John Hawkes: Some people might harp on me for not casting a more ‘name’ actor in the role of Ghost Rider‘s big bad and for Mephisto in general given his place in the villain hierarchy at Marvel, but I’d argue given Hawkes’ talent and trajectory he will catch up to that soon — or perhaps even with this role of Mephisto. From Deadwood to Eastbound & Down and all the way to his award-winning performance in Winter’s Bone, Hawkes has emerged as a sort of ‘actor’s actor’ by really delving into his character and finding more than just an archetype to play. He famously turned down a chance to play the Governor in The Walking Dead, but that doesn’t mean he has an apprehension for comics: he played a mugger in Steel back in the late 1990s. So maybe, if for nothing else, this can be Hawkes’ way of making up for that.