Marvel Comics has big plans for Ghost Rider in the coming year.
The publisher released a teaser image featuring Johnny Blaze and the many different incarnations of Ghost Rider with the accompanying text "The Year of Vengeance," signaling a celebration of the franchise in 2022. Along with this image, Marvel announced that it will be releasing a new Ghost Rider ongoing series next year to coincide with the character's 50th anniversary. This will be the first Ghost Rider series since writer Ed Brisson ended his run on the character during the King in Black crossover event.
Other characters shown in the teaser image by Ryan Stegman and Marte Garcia include the Prehistoric Ghost Rider of 1,000,000 B.C., Danny Ketch, Cosmic Ghost Rider, Spirit Rider, Ghost Rider 2099, Vengeance, Robbie Reyes and Alejandra Jones, among others. Also featured is the Phantom Rider, a hero from the Old West who used the name of Ghost Rider before Johnny's creation. Though the character has no direct connection to the other spirits of vengeance, he was incorporated into the 2007 Ghost Rider film in the form of the Caretaker. Phantom Rider has not been seen since War of the Realms, making his inclusion here one of the image's biggest mysteries.
Johnny Blaze first appeared in 1972's Marvel Spotlight #5 and was created by Gary Friedrich, Mike Ploog and Roy Thomas. Prior to gaining the spirit of vengeance, Johnny was a motorcycle stunt driver who made a deal with the demon Mephisto in exchange for the life of his surrogate father. In the years since his debut, Ghost Rider has been featured in film, animation and other media. He is one of the many Marvel heroes set to appear in the Midnight Suns video game.
Recently, the character of Spirit Rider has been lighting up the pages of Marvel Comics. Kushala is the Ghost Rider of the mid-1800s and is also the Sorcerer Supreme of her era. She originally debuted in Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme and is the focus of a digital Infinity comic series that explores Kushala's legacy through her ancestor Olivia Oberta.
While fans will have to wait to see what "The Year of Vengeance" holds for Ghost Rider, Robbie Reyes is set for an appearance in the new series Avengers Forever. Written by Jason Aaron and drawn by Aaron Kuder, the series spins out of Avengers and focuses on a multiversal incarnation of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Reyes has been a featured player in Jason Aaron's Avengers series since its launch in 2018.
Source: Marvel Comics