Summary

• Ghost Rider's hellcharger, when pushed to its fullest potential, is faster than anything in the known multiverse.
• The hellcharger's speed gives Ghost Rider a whole new dimension of possibilities.
• Ghost Rider's speed may have its drawbacks, but he has the potential to outrun any speedster in the Marvel Universe.

Ghost Rider always had some street cred as a fast character, mostly because of his hellcharger, a vehicle that takes on the supernatural powers bestowed on it by the Spirit of Vengeance. In Avengers #50 (by Jason Aaron, Aaron Kuder, Carlos Pacheco, and others), an encounter with Deathlok revealed that the hellcharger, when pushed to its fullest potential, is faster than anything in the known multiverse.

This is a major boost to the already vast powers at Ghost Rider's disposal. It becomes even more impressive when remembering that the Marvel Universe recently got its own version of the Flash known as the Blur. If Ghost Rider's car is faster than a character whose speed seems to be equal to Barry Allen's, then the Spirit of Vengeance can now be considered the fastest being in any universe. Of course, some caveats to this make it hard to determine how fast Ghost Rider really is, though his status as Marvel's fastest speedster isn't in question.

Updated by Timothy Blake Donohoo on January 3, 2024: The Marvel Universe is known for many powerful heroes, but the concept of speedsters is usually reserved for DC Comics. Nevertheless, Marvel has a few characters who can break the sound barrier with their speed, with Quicksilver and others blitzing through their enemies. Strangely enough, perhaps the fastest character in Marvel Comics isn't known for his speed, but rather for his devilish sense of style and violence.

Ghost Rider Can Outpace Anyone - As Long As He Has His Car

Ghost Rider has always had a fast ride. Even in the ancient past, the host of the Spirit of Vengeance had some form of mount. It was always assumed that this made their vehicle more durable and got the added flames for effect. However, if what the cyborg assassin Deathlok says is true, then all Ghost Riders can make their vehicles the fastest thing in the multiverse. This includes the prehistoric Ghost Rider or Old West Ghost Rider Carter Slade, with the latter having a horse for his vehicle. In fact, the immense speeds that Slade's horse has attained in the past already proves this theory. That's without even bringing up the first Ghost Rider movie, wherein the animal keeps up with Johnny Blaze's hell-powered motorcycle.

Previously, Ghost Rider has proven able to outpace Thor, who flies at the speed of sound. Many have failed to note how fast Thor's flight speed can be, but given that he's a powerful Asgardian god, his incredible velocity makes perfect sense. Now, Robbie Reyes has access to a car that can go even faster. This creates a whole new dimension of possibilities that can truly make the character into hell on wheels. The Ghost Rider can now be where his dark power is needed the most, so long as he has his iconic ride blazing him forward.

Ghost Rider's Hellcharger Is Faster Than Marvel's Speedsters

Though it might seem a bit random, there's a sense of logic behind the idea that the Hellcharger is faster than Marvel's speedsters. A car can easily outrun a human being. Speedsters changed that rule when they first came into existence, but a car fueled by a similar power would once again restore the natural standard, easily outracing people like the Blur or Quicksilver. This power may not be Ghost Rider's personally, but only he can use the hellcharger, making it a power exclusive to him.

Much like the traversing powers of the Flash, the Hellcharger can even enter different universes. This means that Ghost Rider's speed has no limits, and if he can master this new power there is no place he cannot reach. The question here is if Robbie will ever put this power to good use. Having a nearly instantaneous form of travel could be useful for someone in his line of work, but it also comes with its drawbacks. For starters, he's driving a car, which makes it difficult to fit into smaller spaces. However, being able to get anywhere at any time might make all the difference in the world.

Likewise, regardless of how fast Ghost Rider is, the connection to its hell-based power is likely the biggest weakness. If anything were to end his connection to Hellfire itself, it's highly possible that the velocity of Ghost Rider and his vehicle would be impeded. Such a problem was experienced by The Flash, a.k.a. Wally West when he traveled to the Marvel Universe in the Marvel vs. DC crossover storyline. In the DC Universe, he was far faster than Marvel's Quicksilver. Unfortunately for Wally, there is no Speed Force in the Marvel Universe, with his going to this alternate world robbing him of his powers. This could turn multiversal travel for Ghost Rider into a guessing game, especially if he taxed his speed to the max. Needless to say, it's no surprise that the Spirit of Vengeance doesn't rely on these powers on the regular.

Other Major Marvel Speedsters

To look at how fast Ghost Rider is, it's important to look at the other fast heroes and villains with incredible quickness. In some cases, they have shocking reflexes or bursts of speed. For instance, Spider-Man's reflexes and agility allow him to dodge and issue out attacks at what seem to be blinding speeds to normal human beings. At the same time, if he were to merely swing via webs or run on foot, he'd be only moderately superhuman in terms of speed. The same goes for other augmented humans such as the street-level Luke Cage and Captain America, neither of whom is anywhere near fast enough to be seen as a speedster. Even with Thor, his normal attack speeds are largely plodding compared to even Spider-Man, as the lumbering god only bolts through an area when flying with his hammer Mjolnir.

The true Marvel speedsters include the likes of Quicksilver, Hurricane (from the original Ultimate Universe), The Whizzer, The Blur and his Supreme Power "Ultimate Universe" counterpart. Quicksilver's origins have changed over the years, though he was initially portrayed as a mutant. Regardless of where he got these powers, they allowed him to move his body at levels far beyond merely superhuman. He's easily one of Marvel's fastest beings, though it remains to be seen if Ghost Rider truly could push the Hellcharger to be faster than Pietro. There's also the fact that, due to how Quicksilver's powers have changed, it might present key challenges in testing how fast Ghost Rider is. Modern Quicksilver used powers derived from Terrigen Mists to "duplicate himself" across time. This gave the illusion of both super speed and teleportation, and while the Hellcharger might be fast, outracing Quicksilver with these abilities might take more than just sheer velocity.

Several other Marvel speedsters pale in comparison to Ghost Rider's likely speed. For instance, the Golden Age speedster known as The Whizzer is a rather silly hero from a bygone era. His top speeds are only in the early hundreds of miles per hour, and while this might sound impressive for a sports car, it's nothing compared to Quicksilver or Ghost Rider's Hellcharger. This somewhat disappointing level of superhuman speed was showcased to hilarious effect in the second season of the Marvel Netflix TV series Jessica Jones. No matter how fast Ghost Rider is, he'd easily outpace this old-school character.

Buried Alien was much more impressive, which makes sense given that he's essentially the Barry Allen Flash. Of course, the cosmic Runner can move at absolute speed, meaning that he might put even Ghost Rider to shame. Almost all of these characters have speed as their primary power, so using his Hellfire power to match them ultimately tires Ghost Rider out. Plus, given how untested his speed is, it's ultimately a hard power to gauge. Nevertheless, if he truly puts the pedal to the medal, the Spirit of Vengeance may be able to outrace them all.