Is Nicolas Cage Playing The Villain In Ghost Rider 2? UPDATE: NO!!!!

Dircector's tweet gets the net guessing, but it’s simpler than it sounds…

It looks like Nicolas Cage may be playing a dual role in the Ghost Rider sequel, Spirit Of Vengeance , appearing as both the hero, Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider and the film’s villain.

The film’s directing team Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor Tweeted yesterday, “The dual role of blaze/zarathos will be a nic cage classic”.

In the comics, Zarathos is the demon bound with Johnny Blaze, turning him into Ghost Rider. Normally Zarathos is kept in check by Blaze’s good side, but occasionally Zarathos could gain control (he even split away to become a separate entity on a number of occasions).

UPDATE: Collider has spoken to Brian Taylor, and aparently what they meant by the Tweet was that Cage will be playing both Johnny Blaze and Ghost Rider. Which maike make you go, “Huh???”, but in the first film the demonic biker side of the equation was played by stunt men (and a lot of CGI). Says Taylor: “Zarathos is the spirit of vengeance that inhabits John Blaze when he becomes Ghost Rider. Unlike the first movie, where the Rider was stiffly acted out by a various stunt guys, Nic will be playing all the Ghost Rider stuff himself, and we are creating a whole physical language for the demon that is different from the human Blaze.”

Dave Golder
Freelance Writer

Dave is a TV and film journalist who specializes in the science fiction and fantasy genres. He's written books about film posters and post-apocalypses, alongside writing for SFX Magazine for many years.