With the announcement that Ryan Gosling will be the new Ghost Rider in the MCU, in a movie set for release in 2028, directed by Shawn Levy, who was behind Deadpool & Wolverine.

With the film announced during San Diego Comic-Con in mind, Omelete has rounded up what you need to know about the character’s main versions, including one that has already appeared in the MCU.

Who Is Ghost Rider?

At his core, Ghost Rider is an antihero capable of transforming into a superhuman skeletal being shrouded in ethereal flames and wielding supernatural powers. Whoever takes on the Ghost Rider persona ends up making a pact with the Spirit of Vengeance, becoming virtually immortal and gaining superhuman strength as well. Each host of the Spirit of Vengeance has a different set of abilities, but the most common power among the character’s various versions is the Penance Stare.

The Penance Stare forces its target to feel every sin and evil act they have ever committed, burning the enemy’s soul with the weight of a lifetime of accumulated guilt. This can leave them in a state of profound shock, or even send their soul straight to hell. Check out Marvel’s main trio of Ghost Riders below:

Johnny Blaze

Jonathan "Johnny" Blaze was a motorcycle stunt rider who worked in a circus alongside his adoptive father, Craig "Crash" Simpson. When Crash was diagnosed with terminal cancer, Blaze made a deal with the demon Mephisto to save his life, offering his soul in exchange. However, Mephisto deceived him and fused him with the demon Zarathos, transforming him into Ghost Rider, a creature of fire and vengeance riding a hellish motorcycle.

At first, Johnny struggled to control Zarathos, who sought to consume his soul and spread destruction. Over time, he learned to tame the spirit and use his powers to hunt demons and punish the guilty, becoming one of the most powerful entities in the Marvel Universe. His signature weapons include hellfire chains and a shotgun that fires blasts of flame and mystical energy. At one point, Blaze ascended to the throne of Hell, becoming its King, before abdicating the position to return to Earth.

Later, it was revealed that Zarathos was not merely a demon, but an ancient corrupted Spirit of Vengeance, and Johnny came to better understand the true nature of his power. He is the best-known Ghost Rider and the character’s main version in other media, appearing in the games Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, and Marvel's Midnight Suns, as well as the two films starring Nicolas Cage: Ghost Rider (2007) and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011).

Danny Ketch

Daniel "Danny" Ketch was a young man living in New York with his sister, Barbara. After they were attacked by criminals in an alley, Barbara was gravely injured and Danny took refuge in a junkyard, where he found a motorcycle bearing a mystical symbol. Upon touching it, he merged with the spirit of his ancestor Noble Kale and became Ghost Rider, with a flaming bike and burning chains.

Danny discovered that Johnny Blaze, the original Ghost Rider, was his older brother, and that both were sons of Naomi Kale, a direct descendant of Noble Kale. The Kale family curse bound the three siblings together, with Danny carrying the spirit of the ancestor and being compelled to act whenever innocent blood was spilled.

He joined the Midnight Sons alongside Blade and Morbius, battling supernatural threats such as Blackheart and Mephisto. He was also part of the New Fantastic Four after the original team was captured by the Skrulls. In a final battle against Mephisto, Danny sacrificed his powers to save Barbara’s soul, after she had become the female Ghost Rider, losing the spirit of Noble Kale and giving up the mantle. Years later, during the "Absolute Carnage" event, he temporarily regained his powers to face Carnage alongside Johnny Blaze.

Robbie Reyes

Roberto "Robbie" Reyes was a young man living in a poor neighborhood of Los Angeles, taking care of his younger brother, Gabriel, a child with intellectual disabilities and reduced mobility. Reyes worked at a car shop to support his brother, while "borrowing" cars from the shop to take part in illegal street races at night. 

In one of those races, he ended up using a local criminal’s car, was ambushed, and killed. At the same time, the spirit of Eli Morrow, a serial killer and Satanist, resurrected him and transformed him into the first Ghost Driver.

Robbie and Johnny Blaze even came to blows, with Blaze admitting that although Robbie was a good person, the spirit inside him was something dangerous. Eventually, Reyes discovers that Eli was his uncle, and the one responsible for his brother’s mobility issues after pushing the boys’ mother down a flight of stairs. To this day, Robbie lives in an internal struggle with Eli for control of the Ghost Driver. 

In the MCU, he was portrayed by Gabriel Luna in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., making him the first version of the character to appear in the MCU. 

Other Notable Riders

Beyond the main trio, there are other Ghost Riders who have taken up the mantle of the Spirit of Vengeance in the comics. Check out who else has held the role below:

Alejandra Jones

Daughter of a drug trafficking boss and a Mexican woman, Alejandra Jones was sold along with her siblings to Nicaragua, where she met Adam—from the Garden of Eden—and was trained to become the new host of the Spirit of Vengeance. She was personally chosen by her mystical entity and became the new female Ghost Rider. 

However, Adam had other plans for Alejandra, trying to use her to transform the world into a place without sin, which would strip humanity of its power of choice. Johnny Blaze finds the new Ghost Rider and manages to free her from Adam’s influence, and together they defeated the First Man, after which she began acting as a hero. Unfortunately, she ended up being killed by Carnage, and since then has lived in Hell alongside Johnny Blaze, who had become the King of Hell at the time. 

Noble Kale