Marvel movies are front and center of the Hollywood experience these days. The larger-than-life superhero adventures have dominated the conversations surrounding successful movies since Marvel Studios offered up its first installment in 2008's Iron Man, but they took on a whole new life after the billion-dollar success of 2012's The Avengers..
That being said, as strange as it is to say, Marvel Studios didn't give is the first Marvel movies, as there have been films headlined by characters from the iconic comic book company for years - going back to before the first Marvel Cinematic Universe movie. Now, their levels of success ranged from very good to very bad, while some in between were just forgotten to history.
Now, one of those hidden gems is about to make its presence felt on Netflix.
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is coming to Netflix in October
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is set to debut on Netflix this spooky season, arriving on the streaming service on October 1. Although it is hardly a masterpiece, it is still a film which Marvel fans will always have a soft spot for. The 2012 sequel to Ghost Rider (2007) saw Nicolas Cage returning as Johnny Blaze, a stunt performer cursed with demonic powers after a botched deal with the Devil, who, this time, tries to protect a young boy called Danny Ketch (Fergus Riordan) from cultists who believe that killing him will bring about the apocalypse.
Despite its many undeniable flaws, the Sony Pictures-distributed film still offers plenty of fun and extravagant action sequences, amusing humor, a fun and enjoyable story which moves so quickly that you barely notice the problems with the script, and dedicated performances from the cast, including yet another brilliantly crazy and over-the-top performance from Cage, who really is the king of overacting. Cage once again turns his performance up to eleven, making Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance an unreliably fun experience, despite not exactly being an Oscar contender for Best Picture. And the supporting cast included Idris Elba, Ciarán Hinds, Johnny Whitworth, and Highlander's Christopher Lambert, who all did the best they could with the material they were given.
The film was directed by Neveldine/Taylor, a duo consisting of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, who previously helmed Crank, Crank: High Voltage, and Gamer, with the pair bringing their unique brand of cinematic mayhem to Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.
Although the film performed moderately well at the box office, grossing $132 million against a $57 million production budget, it quickly vanished into obscurity, and it is rarely discussed today, even by dedicated Marvel fans. And the fact that Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance was released in 2012 meant that it was completely overshadowed by the two much larger Marvel film adaptations released that year: The Avengers and The Amazing Spider-Man. Ultimately, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance simply does not get the level of recognition it clearly deserves.
Therefore, this largely ignored and underappreciated film certainly deserves a second chance, so you should certainly check it out on Netflix if you have not seen it already. Because this is one demonically fun adventure which you certainly will not want to miss.