Credit: Marvel StudiosApparently, Marvel planned to have Ghost Rider as part of the Illuminati in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022).
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Doctor Strange 2 has been out for over a week and fans have finally gotten to get a first look at the MCU’s Multiverse which has opened a plethora of opportunities for future projects. While fans believe Marvel is gearing the MCU closer to Secret Wars, it seems that Marvel had some other ideas for the movie that just didn’t make it into the final cut.
Sam Raimi did state that he cut around 35 minutes of the film which led to the shorter runtime and made it harder to believe that all the cameos reported to appear in the movie were going to happen. While some of them like John Krasinski’s Reed Richards happened, a lot of fans were disappointed at Marvel’s lack of cameos.
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James Clement reveals in his podcast, Weekly Planet, that Marvel had five characters who were cut out of the movie despite having filmed scenes for the movie:
“So somebody sent me a list of five characters that were going to be in this movie that were cut… I said [to my source],’ were any of these films?’ And this person said, ‘Filmed but ultimately cut from the theatrical version… Ghost Rider, [who was a] very interesting… member of the Illuminati… I guess [he] was [likely] going to fight Wanda and probably die…”
The report from Clement doesn’t tell who could’ve been Ghost Rider, but if fans learned that Nicolas Cage came back as the iconic Marvel character, fans will be upset that his cameo was cut. Cage has admitted in the past that he would love to play the character again but doesn’t think Marvel wants him back.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. last featured Robbie Keyes as Ghost Rider, but the series isn’t confirmed to be canon in the MCU leaving it unclear who could’ve played the super hero. Interestingly enough, Marvel wanted to include Ghost Rider as part of the Illuminati which is not something the character has been a part of in the comics.
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Normally, Ghost Rider tags along with the Midnight Sons, a group specialized to take on the supernatural which is rumored to be one of several super hero teams in the works. If Ghost Rider was a part of the Illuminati that would’ve meant that Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch’s murderous rampage would’ve killed Ghost Rider and left fans upset.
Hopefully, Ghost Rider will appear soon as he could make an appearance in Blade, but it’s hard to tell when to expect the character to appear in the MCU as Marvel has been tight-lipped about what their future MCU projects are.
More on Doctor Strange 2
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Doctor Strange 2 is directed by Sam Raimi and stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange/Doctor Strange in the main timeline, but he will also play other variants in the movie such as Sinister Strange, Defender Strange, and Strange Supreme.
The movie will also star Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff, America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), Wong as the Sorcerer Supreme (Benedict Wong), Mordo, (Chiwetel Ejiofor), Rintrah (Adam Hugill), Charles Xavier/Professor X (Sir Patrick Stewart), and potentially other characters from the Marvel universe.
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Phase Four has started off with a lot of content for Marvel fans to look forward to in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. On Disney+ you can watch Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel on June 8, and She-Hulk to debut this year. For movies, Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness is out in theaters right now, followed by Thor: Love and Thunder on July 8, and of course, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever on November 11.