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Nicolas Cage Was Sony’s Only Choice For The Ghost Rider Movies
Mark Steven Johnson, the director of the 2007 movie Ghost Rider, says the only actor considered to play Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider was Nicolas Cage. The movie released before the Marvel Cinematic Universe began its dominant run at the box office in 2008, at a time when Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movies and Fox's X-Men franchise were capturing the attention of Marvel fans. While a financial success, raking in $228.7 million worldwide, Ghost Rider was panned by critics and audiences, earning a 26% critic score and a 48% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Ghost Rider follows the character of Blaze, a stunt rider who ends up signing a contract with the devil to in order to save his father from cancer, turning him into the titular demonic bounty hunter with a flaming skull and motorcycle. The movie also starred Wes Bentley, Eva Mendes, Peter Fonda, Sam Elliott, and Donal Logue. A sequel, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengence, released in 2011, but it was even worse-received than the first and made less money. Afterwards, Cage said that he would not do another, and while the character has appeared elsewhere, the Ghost Rider franchise ended there.
Now, Johnson opens up about the casting for the original Ghost Rider movie. In an interview with ComicBook.com, the director mentions that while the film's villain was up-in-the-air, the hero was never in doubt. Cage was the only actor the creative team ever wanted to play Blaze. Check out the full comment below:
Quote:
Nic was always the choice for Ghost Rider. He has such a love for this character. There was never talk of anyone else playing Johnny Blaze.
An interesting note from Johnson's comment is how Cage was interested in the character just as much as Johnson was in casting him for the role. While the villain Blackheart (Bently) may not have been the best part of the movie, it is good to hear that Cage wanted to make sure that Blaze was portrayed right. Ghost Rider has a large fanbase and is very popular, so getting the character right must have been highly important for the creative team. Cage also has a tendency to bring a lot to his performances, and he definitely gave this film his all.
It remains to be seen whether Ghost Rider will appear on the big (or small) screen again, but there is a chance that audiences could see him fairly soon. The MCU continues to expand, constantly bringing in new characters as they acquire the rights, and a Disney+ series could be the perfect fit for a character like Blaze. Until then, fans will have to be content with Cage's performances in his first two Ghost Rider films.
