WARNING: The following contains spoilers for King in Black: Ghost Rider #1, by Ed Brisson, Juan Frigeri, Jason Keith and VC's Joe Caramagna, on sale now.
If WandaVision proved anything, it's that Marvel fans are ready for the superhero universe's resident devil Mephisto to make his grand entrance into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And while Mephisto is usually comfortably seated on the throne of Hell, playing all the angles as the Marvel Universe's ultimate master manipulator, the devil has been away from his domain for some time since deposed by a contingent of magical superheroes.
But as a different kind of evil descends on Earth during the crossover event King in Black: Ghost Rider, Mephisto has reclaimed his throne, and he's ready to unleash his usual hellish mayhem on the Marvel Universe once again.
During the 2018 crossover event Damnation, Mephisto confronted Doctor Strange over the fate of all the souls in Las Vegas killed during the previous year's crossover event Secret Empire. In the ruins of Vegas, Mephisto established a new base of operations in Hotel Inferno, with the hellish casino affecting the people Strange had resurrected. After discovering Strange was cheating in their confrontation, Mephisto tortured him and left his throne vulnerable while facing the heroes amassed to defeat him. Ghost Rider claimed the throne for himself after an epic war against Mephisto in Hell, with the heroes imprisoning the defeated Mephisto in Hotel Inferno, stripped of the majority of his powers that came with being Lord of Hell.
Johnny Blaze struggled to maintain control of Hell while Mephisto continued to manipulate heroes, even from the confines of his terrestrial prison. Eventually, Johnny would be outsmarted and usurped by the Mother of Demons Lilith, who proved to be more of a match for the veteran Ghost Rider. This culminated with literal Hell on Earth as demons emerged from the fiery underworld to wreak havoc across the planet. In order to locate Lilith and the demons she unleashed from Hell, Ghost Rider takes Mephisto from Hotel Inferno to help him on his hellish hunt just as King in Black breaks loose.
While Ghost Rider and the rest of his supernatural companions are preoccupied battling symbiote dragons and the rampaging army of demons, Mephisto's son Blackheart uses demon's blood to open a portal to Hell as the duo plan to retake the throne for themselves. While Ghost Rider is able to restrain Mephisto before he can make his escape, the remaining heroes -- including Johnny's brother and former Ghost Rider Danny Ketch -- convince Mephisto to return to Hell as he is best suited to defeat Lilith and get his demons back in line. Reasoning that at least he knows how to deal with Mephisto better than Lilith, Johnny begrudgingly agrees and allows Mephisto to reclaim his domain and hellish title.
Johnny Blaze first got his powers by cutting a deal with the devil to become Ghost Rider and, in order to save the Marvel Universe from Lilith and her demon army, he has just made a new one. Taking a surprisingly literal approach to "better the devil you know than the devil you don't," Ghost Rider has relinquished his most nefarious prisoner and restored him right back in his usual place of power. And while it may have only been a matter of time before Mephisto regained the throne, the rest of the Marvel Universe's superhero community may be less than pleased with Johnny when they discover what occurred while they were preoccupied by King in Black.