Marvel Studios can move mountains. Okay, maybe not literally; but metaphorically, the studio can move any mountains it wants to. They are single-handedly responsible for producing the most successful box office franchise of all time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (which has grossed over $30 billion across its 34 movies), and it's still going strong.
Its current Multiverse Saga continues to surprise people, as the MCU is successfully able to use the concept to bring back classic actors to portray beloved roles (Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, Patrick Stewart's Professor X, and Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's Spider-Men) and make some dream fan-castings a reality (John Krasinski as the Fantastic Four's Reed Richards), having them interact with some of the most popular and current characters within their own franchise.
It's like watching the past, present, and future collide all at once, and that's part of the Marvel magic that really proves the franchise can make the impossible happen. It reportedly tried to do it again another time and couldn't quite make it work, but new reports suggest that they are trying to make it happen again. And it's really quite an insane one, too.
Marvel rumored to be speaking with Nicolas Cage about Ghost Rider return
According to Marvel scooper MyTimeToShineHello, Marvel Studios is actively speaking with Nicolas Cage about a potential return as Ghost Rider in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The iconic movie star had previously played the role in non-MCU projects and fans have been wondering if he could be one of the many returnees of the Multiverse Saga. It sounds like it might still be a possibility.
Cage portrayed the Johnny Blaze version of the character in two projects, debuting in 2007's Ghost Rider and returning in 2011's sequel The Spirit of Vengeance. Though the films weren't really well-received from a critical standpoint, they were successful at the box office (especially the first one) and have since developed a cult following, particularly for how they helped introduce the character to more mainstream audiences. As always, Nicolas Cage's committed performance earned praise from fans.
Since then, there has been a longing for Nicolas Cage to return to the role in some capacity. The reason that it seemed unlikely to happen in the MCU is simply down to the fact that it almost did (very recently, in fact) but the stars for Ghost Rider's involvement in the franchise just did not align.
Ryan Reynolds recently revealed on Entertainment Weekly's Awardist podcast that an early draft of this year's Deadpool and Wolverine had both Cage's Ghost Rider and Ben Affleck's Daredevil appear in it. Neither one worked out, but Reynolds did discuss his eagerness towards attempting to make the Ghost Rider appearance happen, revealing that he actually spoke to Cage about it, adding: "We tried to get him, but he was a no-go… I would’ve loved him."
The fact that Marvel may be attempting to get him to appear in a subsequent project is quite exciting, and it once again shows the limitless possibilities of the Multiverse Saga. With rumors of a multiversal battle in either Avengers: Doomsday or Avengers: Secret Wars, it's quite possible that he could show up in one of them.
What's even more ironic about all of this is that Cage recently appeared in a different multiversal movie to "reprise" a role that developed him a bit of a cult following. He appeared in 2023's The Flash for DC via a CGI cameo in which he portrayed an alternate version of Superman - a throwback to the unmade Superman Lives movie of the 1990s in which he almost played the role.
Is he set to do the same again in the MCU with Ghost Rider? We can certainly hope!