Exclusive: Gabriel Luna Returning As Ghost Rider
We've exclusively learned that Marvel is looking to work with Gabriel Luna on Ghost Rider.
This article is more than 2 years old
There have been quite a few versions of Ghost Rider over the years. The title has been given to characters like Johnny Blaze, Danny Ketch, and Robbie Reyes, to name a few. While Ghost Rider is pretty awesome as a superhero (sometimes antihero), the title isn’t as well known to the casual comic viewer. We saw Nicholas Cage play Johnny Blaze on the big screen, and we’ve seen Gabriel Luna pick up his own Ghost Rider in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. In the modern Marvel Cinematic Universe, we could use an established Ghost Rider. Now, as we’ve learned from one of our trusted and proven inside sources, Marvel thinks so, too. Marvel Studios wants to see Gabriel Luna return to play Ghost Rider for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Ghost Rider is one of the characters Sony used to own, so there was a period of time where making the character part of the Marvel Universe wasn’t realistic. They’ve owned the rights for a while now and have been considering what they’re going to do. While they’ve now gone as far as realizing they want to work with Gabriel Luna, we haven’t learned anything suggesting they know the character’s entry point in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Could he appear in a movie? Will we see him in Spider-Man 3: No Way Home? That seems unlikely since the movie is coming very soon, but other versions of Ghost Rider have had Spider-Man ties in the past. Robbie Reyes, the Ghost Rider character Gabriel Luna has played previously, doesn’t have as many established ties to other characters, but that doesn’t mean Marvel can’t create them for him.
Gabriel Luna’s character does have an established and strong connection with Quake, played by Chloe Bennet in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D season four. Ghost Rider appeared on the show, on his mission of vengeance against a gang and other people he felt deserved some punishment. Then, he ran into Quake, and after a rough start, eventually began working with her and with S.H.I.E.L.D. There’s been talk for a while that Chloe Bennet may be returning as Quake, possibly in a rebooted version of her character. There were rumors and leaks she may be appearing in the upcoming Disney+ series Secret Invasion, starring Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.
Could Secret Invasion be where Gabriel Luna will first appear as Ghost Rider for the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Could Chloe Bennet be appearing in the series as well? Right now, we can only speculate on that, though all the other puzzle pieces do line up for what Marvel may be intending to do here. Especially since we are hearing this news at the same time announcements are beginning to come out for the Disney+ series, with Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) recently confirmed.
The news of Marvel’s intentions for Gabriel Luna comes shortly after Norman Reedus did an interview where he clearly stated that he wants to play Ghost Rider. This feels like a natural role for Reedus, who has played Daryl on The Walking Dead, where his gruff character rides a motorcycle and beats the odds. Fortunately, Gabriel Luna agrees. This doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to return. Luna played Robbie Reyes as Ghost Rider, and has said publicly as far back as 2017 that he feels Norman Reedus would be a great fit for Johnny Blaze. In previous iterations of Robbie Reyes, he became Ghost Rider after Johnny Blaze’s character saved him, so they’re already established as existing in the same world at the same time in other media.
It’s great to see this role coming back for Gabriel Luna, who has always enjoyed playing the character and has been positive about a possible return. Back in 2019, Hulu had announced a new series for him as Ghost Rider, which was cancelled later the same year due to the studio and the showrunners hitting a creative impasse. Fans were angry, but the actor took to Instagram to kindly say that this is how the business goes sometimes, and while he was surprised, he had nothing but positive and grateful feelings for his career. Perhaps his overwhelmingly positive attitude is part of why Marvel wants to work with him.
