Eva Mendes expressed public support on Instagram after Ryan Gosling was announced at San Diego Comic-Con to star as Ghost Rider in an upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe film directed by Shawn Levy, with a theatrical release scheduled for 2028.
When Ryan Gosling stepped onto the stage at San Diego Comic-Con to a blood-red “Ghost Rider” projection, he fulfilled a casting dream that comic book fans had debated for years. The Marvel Cinematic Universe introduction, announced on July 25, 2026, set off immediate reactions across Hollywood, most notably from the actor’s husband, Eva Mendes, who connected the fiery superhero casting to the couple’s shared history.
Eva Mendes Celebrates the Parallel Universe Connection on Instagram
Mendes took to social media shortly after the Comic-Con reveal to share her enthusiasm for Gosling’s new role on Instagram. The actress and businesswoman reposted a fan-edited clip of the opening scene from The Place Beyond the Pines, a 2012 crime drama where she and Gosling first met. Elsewhere on her Instagram Story, she also reshared a video that featured clips of Mendes’ and Gosling’s characters from 2012’s The Place Beyond the Pines.
The edited video featured a tracking shot of a shirtless, tattooed Gosling walking through a carnival crowd as motorcycle stunt driver Luke Glanton, putting on a vest and jacket, before hopping on his bike. The video’s original caption highlighted the perfect Hollywood full-circle moment,
noting that once Gosling’s new Ghost Rider movie hits theaters in 2028, it will be 21 years after Mendes starred in her Marvel movie.
“From this intro only I thought Ryan Gosling can be a perfect casting for Ghost Rider role.”
Fan editor
Mendes—who shares daughters Esmeralda, 11, and Amada, 10, with Gosling—captioned her post Love, Roxy
, nodding to the character Roxy she played in 2007’s Ghost Rider, which starred Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze. On her Instagram Story, she also shared another video featuring a parallel universe connection
between her past Marvel appearance and Gosling’s upcoming project, writing Gracias @cinema.encyclopedia for this beautiful parallel universe connection.
While she stepped away from Hollywood more than 10 years ago to focus on raising their two daughters and other career endeavors, she’s continued to publicly support her husband despite their famously private relationship.
How Marvel Brought Ghost Rider Back to the Big Screen
Ryan Gosling is slated to enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in 2028 as he transforms into the leather-clad, motorcycle-mounted, demonic superhero Ghost Rider, Marvel announced at San Diego Comic-Con Sunday. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige teased the announcement while on stage at the 2026 edition of the comic book convention, telling fans, We keep secrets to maintain surprises,
before alluding to fans’ demands for the introduction of the supernatural stunt motorcyclist to the MCU. Feige then pounced on movie critic Josh Horowitz in the audience. Horowitz, fresh from hosting a panel at the convention, grabbed a microphone and pleaded to know when audiences would finally get to see Ryan Gosling as Ghost Rider — a dream casting talked about by Marvel fans for years.
Suddenly, the hall was plunged into darkness. To a pounding bass soundtrack, the words “Ghost Rider” were projected onto the screen behind Feige, glowing blood red. When the lights came back up, Gosling was on the stage. Wow,
Gosling said, asking, Is this really happening?
amid raucous cheers from the crowd. The Golden Globe winner enthused about how he’d wanted to play Ghost Rider for “a very long time.”
The character carries a long comic book history, making his Marvel comic book debut in 1967 as the world’s most mysterious Western hero
— the horse-riding alter ego of character Carter Slade. But it was as the superhero identity of the character Johnny Blaze, in Marvel Spotlight issue 5 in 1972, that Ghost Rider really set fans’ hearts aflame. Blaze makes a pact with Satan to protect someone he loves — but after nightfall, his flesh is consumed by hellfire, and his head becomes a flaming skull. The comic book has been adapted for the silver screen in the past, with Nicolas Cage filling the biker boots of the titular character in 2007, alongside Gosling’s now-partner, Eva Mendes, and once again in 2011.
Shawn Levy Directs the Upcoming Standalone Film
Gosling stated that he considered only one director fit for the job — Shawn Levy, the director of Gosling’s upcoming movie, Star Wars: Starfighter.
Levy then bounded onto the stage to greet Feige and Gosling, telling fans that the pair had “riffed” about Ghost Rider ideas while shooting Star Wars: Starfighter
together last year.
And finally, I was like: Bro, let’s ride,
Levy added, to wild applause from the audience. The standalone film directed by Levy is slated for theatrical release in 2028, marking a 21-year gap between Mendes’ appearance in the original 2007 film and her husband’s upcoming entry into the superhero franchise.
