Heated Rivalry star Connor Storrie is reportedly in talks to play the villain opposite Ryan Gosling in Marvel's Ghost Rider. Marvel hasn't confirmed.
Connor Storrie, the breakout star of Heated Rivalry, is in talks to play the villain opposite Ryan Gosling in Marvel Studios' Ghost Rider, according to The Hollywood Reporter, which broke the news on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, around 5 p.m. ET. Variety and Deadline followed within about 15 minutes. Nothing is signed or official yet.
What the reports say
The Hollywood Reporter says Storrie is in talks to star opposite Gosling. Variety reports he is up for the villain role, while Deadline says he is "circling" a part that is reportedly the film's antagonist. Deadline adds that Marvel declined to comment, and Variety notes Marvel Studios does not comment on casting.
Shawn Levy is directing from a script by Jonathan Tropper, the same pairing behind Gosling's Star Wars: Starfighter. Ghost Rider is set for release on July 28, 2028, and Variety says shooting is planned for New York next year. The Hollywood Reporter says Linus Sandgren, who shot Dune: Part Three, has been hired as cinematographer and that the film will be shot on film, citing sources.
What is not confirmed
Marvel has not said which version of Ghost Rider Gosling is playing. The Hollywood Reporter says it is presumed he is Johnny Blaze, but that is still an assumption. It is also unknown which villain Storrie would play. Both outlets point to Mephisto as one option, a character Sacha Baron Cohen played in the Disney+ series Ironheart, but that is the outlets' context, not a casting detail.
The earlier Ghost Rider movies starred Nicolas Cage in 2007 and 2011. Those films were made before the rights returned to Marvel Studios.
Why it matters for U.S. readers
Storrie went from a restaurant job to a hit series in roughly a year, according to The Hollywood Reporter, and has since hosted Saturday Night Live. Season 2 of Heated Rivalry is filming and, per Variety, premieres on HBO Max next spring. A Marvel villain would be his biggest film part so far.
Our take: this is a talks-stage report, and talks fall apart often enough that we would wait for Marvel to say something. Still, three major trades landing the same story in one afternoon makes it look solid. Casting a social-media-famous TV name against Gosling is also a bet on younger viewers showing up in July 2028.
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Picture credit: Marvel Studios
