Marvel ComicsWhile most of the Marvel Universe is made up of heroes who got their powers from the stuff of science fiction (radioactive spiders and genetic serums designed to create super-soldiers), there are plenty of heroes whose origins and adventures are rooted in less rational, more supernatural territory. Ghost Rider has long been one of the most iconic of these characters, and it's easy to see why: a wrathful Spirit of Vengeance with a flaming skull riding a blazing motorcycle is an immediately evocative image, and his stories tap into a side of the Marvel Universe a little darker than its standard fare.Johnny Blaze, the first supernatural Ghost Rider (the title originally belonged to a very human cowboy from Marvel’s Western comics era), was adapted to the big screen and played by Nicolas Cage in two movies, and the most recent Ghost Rider introduced in comics (Robbie Reyes, the Mexican-American behind the wheel of a smoldering vintage Dodge Charger) appeared in the fourth season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Back in July during this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, it was announced that the MCU was working on a Ghost Rider reboot starring Ryan Gosling and directed by Shawn Levy, and now, The Hollywood Reporter notes that Connor Storrie is in talks to play the villain of the film. But who that villain is has yet to be confirmed. That said, we’ve got some exciting potential candidates.The Heated Rivalry star might just be leaving the hockey rink behind in favor of the circles of Hell itself. | LISA O'CONNOR/AFP/Getty ImagesBlackheartCreated by writer Ann Nocenti and artist John Romita Jr. and introduced, surprisingly enough, in the pages of Daredevil #270, Blackheart serves as a major antagonist for not just Ghost Rider but frequently the Marvel Universe at large. He’s the artificial “son” of the demon lord Mephisto (who bound the Spirit of Vengeance and former demon lord Zarathos to Johnny Blaze in the first place), created from the residual trauma and pain collected from violent events in the fictional community of Christ’s Crown, New York. While his first appearance was in 1989, Blackheart didn’t really become a Ghost Rider villain until the 1991 comic Ghost Rider/Wolverine/Punisher: Hearts of Darkness, a storyline that saw him kidnap a young girl as part of a failed plan to corrupt the souls of each antihero.Despite Blackheart primarily being a villain to the Danny Ketch incarnation of Ghost Rider (the second supernatural version of the character and Blaze’s long-lost brother, bonded to a once-human Spirit of Vengeance named Noble Kale), he appeared as the main villain in 2007’s Ghost Rider, played by Wes Bentley. Even though he’s Mephisto’s son, he frequently attempts to overthrow his father and take control of his circle of Hell (as demons often do), aspirations which occasionally bring him into a more heroic role – a recent storyline, Avengers Academy: Marvel’s Voices, involved him being turned into a human by his father and seeking refuge amongst the students at the Academy. If Storrie is playing him, then it could potentially be part of a larger Marvel arc involving Mephisto (who hasn’t appeared since showing up in Ironheart), one that might even involve a power struggle involving all of Hell.Thusfar, Wes Bentley is the first and only actor to play Blackheart in live-action — but could that be about to change? | Sony Pictures ReleasingDanny KetchAt first glance, it might seem strange for Danny Ketch to be the villain of the MCU’s Ghost Rider film; after all, he is the second Ghost Rider and Johnny Blaze’s brother. However, Danny and Johnny have come to blows several times in the comics, starting with their first-ever encounter. In 1991’s Ghost Rider vol. 3 # 14, Johnny Blaze (who was once again totally human at the time) kidnapped Danny Ketch, not realizing that he was his brother (a retcon that would come a year later) and believing him to be the new host of Zarathos. Johnny intended to kill Danny in the hopes that it would erase Zarathos’ evil forever, only to discover that Danny was actually bound to a Spirit of Vengeance named Noble Kale, a human from the 1700s who became a Spirit of Vengeance due to the machinations of Mephisto and an archangel named Uriel.Danny and Johnny have also been enemies more recently, such as in Jason Aaron’s run on Ghost Rider – Aaron introduced the archangel Zadkiel, who manipulated Danny into murdering previous Ghost Riders under the guise of “freeing them” while gaining their powers in the process. The fact that there have been multiple past and future Ghost Riders is a key aspect of the mythos for decades, and introducing Danny Ketch as the villain in the upcoming reboot could be the perfect way to establish this concept early on, while also opening the door for two acting Ghost Riders at the same time in the MCU.Their relationship as brothers has never stopped Johnny and Danny from facing off when the story requires it. | Marvel ComicsZadkielThe aforementioned archangel introduced by Jason Aaron in Ghost Rider vol. 6 #27, Zadkiel was an angel of heaven; in traditional mythology he’s represented as an angel of mercy and benevolence, but in the comics he’s anything but. In Marvel’s comics canon, he was originally one of the angels who took part in Lucifer’s rebellion, only to betray his former ally when it became clear that he would lose – for his part in the betrayal, he was banished from the higher regions of heaven and was made commander of an elite squadron of angels with several Spirits of Vengeance at his command (Heaven too has the power to create them). Zadkiel waited for an opportunity to pick up Lucifer’s torch and rebel against God himself, and found that opportunity in Danny Ketch, whom he manipulated into slaying previous Ghost Riders and amassing their power only for it to be stolen by Zadkiel, who then used it to break into the higher heavens to try and overthrow his master.Most depictions of Ghost Rider, in both film and other supplemental material, focus heavily on him doing battle with the forces of Hell and other supernatural enemies – it would be an interesting subversion of that to have his first MCU appearance be fighting against a power-hungry sect of the forces of Heaven, in the process introducing a whole new dimension of the supernatural to the franchise. Regardless of who Connor Storrie ends up playing though, the MCU is about to significantly expand its presentation of the supernatural, and his villain will undoubtedly be a key part of that. Ghost Rider is one of a handful of characters holding back the things that go bump in the night, and Storrie’s casting is a mystery that probably won’t be fully solved until we get an official announcement of which of Ghost Rider’s many foes he’ll be bringing to life.Ghost Rider is currently planned to be released in theaters on July 28, 2028.