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.
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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’. News Rush
