According to Marvel Studios itself, one script for a 2028 MCU film only just came together earlier this year. San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) 2026 was chock-full of announcements and updates from Marvel Studios, including a look at the rebooted X-Men cast and the new face of the Black Panther franchise. That wasn't all, however, as movie star Ryan Gosling was announced as the headliner of a Ghost Rider film, set to hit theaters on July 28, 2028. While Gosling has been in the MCU rumor mill for a while, the MCU's top brass seems to have only pulled the movie together right before SDCC.
During an interview with Collider at San Diego Comic-Con 2026, following Marvel Studios' Hall H presentation, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige was asked about how the Ghost Rider film had been in the works with star Ryan Gosling and director Shawn Levy. While Feige noted the concept of Gosling being the Spirit of Vengeance has been around for "years and years," the MCU film itself received the green light and a script "not very long ago" at the time of the convention:
"The fact that we wanted Ryan for Ghost Rider and he wanted to do it has not been under wraps, right? That's been around for years and years. It came together, I would just say, not very long ago. They came together only... I don't know what it is now, a few months ago. When they came in and Ryan had a vision for this story that Shawn loved and they came and pitched it to us. We loved it. It was the answer to the question of Ghost Rider that we've been trying to crack. They cracked it, came to us, and said they wanted it to be their next movie after '[Star Wars:] Starfighter.'"
Prior to SDCC 2026, Ryan Gosling's name had been thrown around as a potential Ghost Rider for several years. As early as Summer 2024, insiders and scoopers began throwing Gosling's name into the mix.
A year later, this escalated to rumors that Gosling would potentially appear in the MCU's Phase 6, as early as Avengers: Doomsday. This may suggest that those initial plans didn't work out, and instead Gosling and Levy came up with a solo Ghost Rider plan that more closely aligned with the character getting a dedicated project in Phase 7. Either way, knowing that Ghost Rider came together right before SDCC may be a promising sign for the 2028 film.
Why Shortening the Timeline for the Ghost Rider Movie Is Beneficial to the MCU
Marvel Studios has long been criticized for shooting itself in the foot by planning its slate years too far in advance. The most egregious example, arguably, is Mahershala Ali's Blade: publicly announced as the Daywalker at SDCC 2019, the film endured years of delays, rewrites, and director changes before Ali confirmed in 2026 that his version was no longer moving forward.
Another case is Armor Wars, which was originally announced in 2020 as a Disney+ series centered on James Rhodes as Tony Stark's technology falls into the wrong hands. Marvel later shifted it to a theatrical film, but, speculatively, it was shelved in silence. Other projects, such as X-Men and Nova, are making headway, but Marvel's track record still makes Ghost Rider an interesting course correction.
If Marvel, Shawn Levy, and Ryan Gosling can get Ghost Rider into production quickly, especially with a July 2028 release date set, the studio may be more inclined to uphold its promise of finally bringing the character into the MCU. If all goes well, Marvel could even adopt a similar approach for other new heroes, with a roughly two-year announcement-to-release pipeline that could sit better with audiences who have grown frustrated with the studio's increasingly unpredictable development process.
