Danny and Michael Philippou, the chaotic Australian duo behind Talk to Me and Bring Her Back, recently confirmed they had a general meeting with Marvel in a Project TV interview. That’s all fans know, but the timing is interesting. Bring Her Back, a dark tale with tragic real-life origins, is getting early praise for being pure nightmare fuel. And Marvel doesn’t meet with directors like this by accident. The speculation writes itself: if Marvel is talking to the Philippous, it’s probably for something horror-adjacent.
The first two projects that come to mind are Blade and Ghost Rider. Blade has been stuck in development hell for years, and Ghost Rider is a fan-favorite property still waiting for a proper R-rated introduction. Rumors also suggest that Marvel is actively courting Ryan Gosling for the role of Ghost Rider, with plans to debut him in Avengers: Doomsday. If that’s true, and if the Philippous are involved, Marvel may have the makings of something special.
Ryan Gosling & The Philippous Are Controlled Chaos
Gosling is a strong, multifaceted choice for Ghost Rider. He’s genuinely funny in The Nice Guys, terrifying in Drive, and can play subdued and off-kilter. He’d be a perfect fit for a darker, moodier Ghost Rider, especially if paired with the Philippou brothers, whose directing style thrives in chaos but is never sloppy. They know how to pace scenes. They know when to pull tension tight and when to break it completely.
This can clearly be seen in Talk to Me. The first half of the movie plays like a supernatural party flick where teens are getting high on haunted experiences. It’s fun, even goofy, but then it twists. Mia’s brother’s injury shifts the tone instantly. Suddenly, it’s not fun anymore; it’s horrifying. That tonal swerve feels earned because the Philippous know exactly what they’re doing. It’s Ari Aster-level whiplash, and they pull it off in under 95 minutes.
Early buzz on Bring Her Back says the brothers have doubled down. It’s being called relentless, uncomfortable, and brutal. If Marvel gives the Philippous a horror property, it's hard to imagine the goal is to let them go full A24, but it is to let them bring their distinct pacing and tonal instincts into the MCU. That's the only way a horror entry in the franchise could feel fresh again.
We’ve Seen What Happens When Marvel Doesn’t Commit
And here’s where we need to talk about Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Scott Derrickson, who helped define Marvel’s original take on Doctor Strange, left the sequel over creative differences. He wanted to lean into horror, but Marvel didn’t. So it brought in Sam Raimi, a horror legend with MCU cred, thanks to Evil Dead and the original Spider-Man trilogy.
Raimi has been publicly diplomatic. In a Collider sit-down, he’s said Marvel gave notes like fans, that it supported him, and that the process was collaborative. So no, this wasn’t a Snyder vs. Warner Bros. scenario, but the finished product still felt compromised. Reshoots were extensive. Raimi reportedly had a longer, scarier cut. In the final version, two voices try to speak at once.
The street-level kaiju battle in New York, the Zombie Strange, the temple massacre; that’s Raimi doing his thing. But the Illuminati scene, the third-eye post-credit, and the constant tonal undercutting with awkward humor? That’s the Marvel machine chugging along. The movie is fine, but it could’ve been bold and scary with a singular vision.
Marvel Keeps Hiring Visionaries Just To Pull Them Back
This isn’t new. Edgar Wright and Ant-Man are practically an MCU ghost story. Marvel brought him in for a grounded, stylish superhero heist movie, but then it got cold feet. The result? Wright left. What we got was... decent, but some may never stop wondering what his version could have been.
Marvel has a pattern: it hires exciting directors and flattens them into the house style. This creates consistency but also creative burnout, not just for fans but also for the filmmakers themselves.
Meanwhile, James Gunn seems to be learning from Marvel’s mistakes over at DC. Per Entertainment Weekly, Gunn stated that DCU films will "bring a different vision by the artists who are creating it." In other words, there’s still a shared universe, but each movie will have its own identity.
Imagine how this will play out with Andy Muschietti directing The Brave and the Bold—if he accepts the project. Sure, he made The Flash, but he did the best work with an impossible task. Muschietti also made IT, and his signature take applied to Gotham to a potentially more campy and fantastic tone is a strong fit.
If Marvel Wants Horror To Work, Let Directors Do Their Job
If Marvel is serious about bringing horror into the MCU, it must commit. That means trusting directors like the Philippous to actually make horror. It means trusting actors like Gosling to bring complexity instead of just quips. It means learning from what didn’t work in Multiverse of Madness and what almost worked. Marvel: You’ve gotta let the Philippou brothers cook.
LATEST NEWS
