Shawn Levy Turned Down Tom Cruise’s DAYS OF THUNDER Sequel to Direct Marvel’s GHOST RIDER
Ryan Gosling is bringing the Spirit of Vengeance into the MCU, and it sounds like Marvel’s Ghost Rider reboot was enticing enough for director Shawn Levy to pass on a major opportunity with Tom Cruise.
Gosling will make his debut as the flame-headed Marvel antihero in the solo film, which is currently set to hit theaters in 2028. Gosling is also expected to factor into Marvel’s planned Midnight Sons movie, but Ghost Rider will give him his first ride through the MCU.
Levy, who previously directed Deadpool and Wolverine and is currently working on Star Wars: Starfighter, will helm the movie, with writer Jonathan Tropper handling the screenplay.
Levy has become one of Hollywood’s most sought-after filmmakers following the massive success of Deadpool and Wolverine. Disney and Lucasfilm are also reportedly very happy with what he’s doing on Starfighter, but Marvel wasn’t the only major player looking to lock him down for another blockbuster.
According to Puck News' Matthew Belloni, Tom Cruise "aggressively courted" Levy to direct the upcoming Days of Thunder sequel. Levy ultimately chose Ghost Rider instead.
That’s a wild decision to make! On one side, you’ve got Cruise returning to one of his classic action movies. On the other, Ryan Gosling tearing across the MCU on a flaming motorcycle with a supernatural skull for a head. Levy went with the flaming skull.
The Days of Thunder sequel has since moved forward with Jonathan Levine directing and Anne Hathaway set to play the female lead.
It previously reported that Gosling will play Johnny Blaze, but Marvel didn’t confirm that detail at Comic-Con. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige also declined to identify Gosling’s character during an interview after the panel, leaving the door open for a little mystery.
“I am going to let Ryan reveal what he wants to reveal, when he wants to reveal it, and what he wanted to reveal today is…he’s playing Ghost Rider. He is a huge fan of the comics; he did come to us particularly with a specific vision, based on some particular comics.”
Gosling came to the studio with his own take on Ghost Rider, and his idea was strong enough to get Levy interested as well.
Feige said: “It was Gosling who had the vision. It was Gosling who had the pitch that won over Shawn, that had them come and pitch us this idea, which led to us on stage today.”
That makes this version of Ghost Rider especially interesting. Gosling has wanted to play the character for years, and now we know he arrived at Marvel with specific comics and an idea for how he wanted to approach the Spirit of Vengeance.
Levy choosing Ghost Rider while Cruise was pursuing him for Days of Thunder certainly makes Marvel’s supernatural reboot sound like a project he really wanted to make. Also, remember Cruise showed up on the set of Starfighter while it was shooting at one point and helped direct a Lightsaber fight sequence.
He put in the effort to get Levy on board, but I’m sure there is another project somewhere down the line they can collaborate on.