The two films released starring anti-hero Ghost Rider (Ghost Rider 2007 and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance 2011) have been somewhat disappointing financially and have also received mixed reviews from critics. Following, and perhaps due to this, the character was dormant for several years before his return in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series delivered audiences another version of Ghost Rider, but not everyone was happy with the portrayal.
Co-Director of Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Brian Taylor, was left unimpressed with the adaptation of the character. Taylor claims that Ghost Rider is meant to be an example of a far darker corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Whilst speaking to Flickering Myth, Taylor admitted the TV version of Ghost Rider doesn’t hold his interest and he feels that the character has become “the clean, vanilla, G-Rated character” again. Taylor feels that a scarier, more R-Rated horror version of the character would be “an awesome thing that should be done” and that he wishes his Spirit of Vengeance had been it.
This follows on from Taylor’s previous statements that he feels the Marvel Universe has a sense of “sameness” throughout the films as a whole. In regard to the MCU, he recently said:
“The Marvel [Studios] movies, I just don’t understand at all. I have to be honest, they seem very long to me. I’ve got to be careful the way I say this. I just don’t get them. I’m kind of bored with them and I just don’t find them particularly entertaining. I think they’re really well made in terms of craft. The action is really good. They’re technically really great. They have a lot of actors that I love, but I just don’t get it.”
He also details how he wishes he had pushed Ghost Rider into darker realms in the film he co-directed with Mark Neveldine.
According to Taylor, the character really belongs as an R-Rated horror character. The original script that David Goyer wrote for the film was quite different from the end result. Taylor states that the original script was a “hardcore R-Rated horror script”. However, in the 10 years between the writing of the original script and the release of the film, the script was re-written 14-16 times. To Taylor’s disappointment, this totally changed the tone of the movie.
Recently, films Deadpool and Logan have achieved massive success, so he is perhaps correct that an R-Rated version of the Ghost Rider character would potentially go down well with viewers. Although we don’t expect to see this type of adaptation any time soon.
Taylor states that he feels if they had been able to shoot the film using Goyer’s original R-Rated script, the film would have been hugely popular, perhaps even a classic.
What do you think? Would you like to see a darker version of Ghost Rider? Tell us your thoughts in the comments!