Shawn Levy Reveals How Fast Ryan Gosling Talked Him Into Directing Marvel’s ‘Ghost Rider’

Some Hollywood partnerships take years to build before they turn into anything official. Others move so quickly that even the people involved seem a little surprised by how fast it all came together.

Shawn Levy and Ryan Gosling clearly fall into the second category. The two spent months working side by side on ‘Star Wars: Starfighter,’ with Gosling serving as both star and executive producer, and that experience apparently laid the groundwork for something much bigger.

According to Levy, all it took was a single conversation to set Marvel’s ‘Ghost Rider’ in motion. “Literally six minutes into him telling me about it, I’m like, ‘Yeah, let’s go. We’re doing that,'” Levy told People. “We walked it into Kevin [Feige], and here we are.”

Levy has been candid about how much his working relationship with Gosling shaped the decision to team up again. The pair developed a shorthand while shooting ‘Starfighter’ together, one that Levy has described as built on mutual trust and a shared creative rhythm rather than just professional obligation.

That dynamic reportedly carried directly into the ‘Ghost Rider’ pitch. Gosling, who has publicly wanted to play the character for years, brought the idea to Levy during their time on set, and the director says he barely hesitated before agreeing to bring it to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige.

Gosling’s interest in Ghost Rider is not a new development. He first expressed enthusiasm for the role publicly back in 2022, and as recently as March 2026 confirmed on the ‘Happy Sad Confused’ podcast that “some discussions” had already taken place with Marvel about the part.

Those conversations finally became official at Marvel’s Hall H panel during San Diego Comic-Con 2026, where Feige confirmed Gosling as the MCU’s new Johnny Blaze, with Levy attached to direct. The project marks Gosling’s first leading role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and gives the flame-skulled antihero his first big-screen outing since Nicolas Cage played the character in 2007’s ‘Ghost Rider’ and its 2011 sequel, ‘Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.’

Before ‘Ghost Rider’ arrives, audiences will see Levy and Gosling’s first collaboration play out in ‘Star Wars: Starfighter,’ which hits theaters on May 28, 2027. Jonathan Tropper, who wrote that film and previously co-wrote Levy’s ‘The Adam Project,’ has also signed on to pen the ‘Ghost Rider’ screenplay.

‘Ghost Rider’ itself is officially dated for July 28, 2028, landing on Disney’s release calendar shortly after Marvel’s next X-Men film. Plot details remain scarce for now, though early speculation has floated Mephisto, Lilith, and Blackheart as possible villains for Johnny Blaze to face.

For Levy, who previously steered Marvel’s ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ to massive success, teaming up with Gosling again feels like a natural next step rather than a risk. Whatever vision Gosling originally pitched in those six minutes, it was apparently persuasive enough to fast-track one of Marvel’s most anticipated new projects.

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