Well, here’s a movie we haven’t been talking about much, but leave it one of the stars to get news on the film moving again. Last we heard, the Nic Cage-led sequel “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance” was shooting in Eastern Europe with “Crank” writer/directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor strapping on roller skates and swinging from trees or doing whatever they do in shooting the film. Remarkably, the villain has been kept under wraps until now — which probably speaks to geek curiosity around project (ie. none) — but actor Johnny Whitworth finally spilled the beans.
In an interview with AMC Theaters (via MTV), Whitworth revealed, “I’m not a very nice guy. I’m bad. I get turned into, for those who read ‘Ghost Rider’, the character Blackout. I get turned into him by the Devil to complete my job. That gives me the fortitude to fight Ghost Rider and the supernatural abilities to compete on some level with that guy.”
The muddy origins of Blackout in the comics likely have given Neveldine and Taylor some room to play. The story goes that Deathwatch hired Blackout to steal something, but he is stopped by Ghost Rider who would end up disfiguring his face leading to a long standing grudge between the two. Blackout also kills Ghost Rider’s sister in the comics as well. No word if either of those stories will play into the movie but it doesn’t seem like it. At any rate it looks like the Devil (played by Ciaran Hinds) will play a part in Blackout getting his powers. Now that we know all this, we aren’t any more excited to see the movie.
“Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance” will hit theaters on February 17, 2012 and will also star Violante Placido and Idris Elba.
I doubt they use the sister story. If they do, they\’ll be stomping on the fact that Cage isn\’t the Dan Ketch version of Ghost Rider, since it was Ketch\’s sister who Blackout murdered, not Johnny Blaze\’s.
In fact, Blackout\’s entire origin really revolves around the Dan Ketch version of Ghost Rider. I mean, he did cross paths with the Blaze version but the Ketch version is the one responsible for making him an ugly bastard and is arguably the one he hated the most.
Man, the more I think about this the less enthused I am. Nic Cage and Mark Steven Johnson should have left the first film alone. Now the prospect of a sequel with a villain whose story starts with a different incarnation of the title character just seems sad.
Oh well. Years down the line I wouldn\’t be surprised if we get a third take on the character along the lines of Punisher: War Zone. Hopefully by then whoever handles it can resist casting wrong actors in the lead roles and deliver the requisite level of supernatural horror with a faint hint of noir it should have had to begin with.