Oh no. God no. Mark Steven Johnson, stop right there. I know you’re talking about making a Ghost Rider 2, but don’t. Just don’t. One was bad enough. Please let this be one of those “We’re releasing the DVD and praying it doesn’t tank, and while we’re promoting it we’ll keep the dream alive for those 13 year old fanboys out there that didn’t hate it.” But don’t let it be anything more than that.

Of course, he’s kicking around a few names for a potential nemesis, Like Blackout, Vengeance and Scarecrow (the Marvel universe version, not the Batman villain) which only seems to accentuate the real problem with most of the Marvel films coming out right now. You see, Ghost Rider’s rogues gallery has always sucked. He just wasn’t that cool of a character. Ghost Rider was best when he was part of a super team, whether it be my favorite The New Fantastic Four (with Spider-Man, Wolverine and Grey Hulk) or with the Midnight Sons (teamed up with Blade, the vampire Morbius, and group of demon hunters called the Night Stalkers – who were all brought together by none other than Doctor Strange himself.) It’s when you start thinking about these teams that you begin to think “Man, how cool would a Midnight Sons movie be? The world on the brink of destruction by demons and the only thing that can save it is a rag tag group of vampires, sorcerers, and a flaming demon who rides a motorcycle?” You can sign me up for that movie right now.

But it’ll never happen. Why? Back when Marvel was on the brink of destruction back in the early ’90s, they sold off their movie rights to the highest bidders. The result is that the rights are split up between so many companies that we’ll never, ever get to see collaborations and crossovers that made these characters so likeable. And most importantly, allowed them to share villains and plots.

So Ghost Rider will never be seen in a movie with Blade or Doctor Strange. He’s stuck with his old ordinary villains that worked just fine in the 15 minute read of the comic book structure, but sadly they don’t play as well in a two hour story. Mark, you tried. And it wasn’t very good. And this is coming from a guy who loves and owns your directors cut of Daredevil (a far superior version of the film if you’ve never seen it.) Seriously, man. Take your own advice. Go back to your roots for a while. And for now, give up the Ghost.

C. Robert Cargill – - – Email Me

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Austin-based Cargill, who not only loves but owns The Cutting Edge, writes on movies and DVD five times a week.