Since his debut in Thanos #13 in January 2018, Cosmic Ghost Rider has become a fan-favourite with Marvel readers. The anti-hero will star in a 5-issue limited series beginning July 4, and writer Donny Cates promises “crazy @#$%” to come.
In a recent interview with
Newsarama, Cates teases an exciting future for his version of the Spirit of Vengeance. “I'll say this: as long as I’m at Marvel, Cosmic Ghost Rider will always have a place. I have very long, very cool plans for him.”
The cover of Cosmic Ghost Rider #3 sees the titular character battle a future team of the Guardians of the Galaxy, with Cable and a Juggernaut/Howard the Duck hybrid called Juggerduck as members. Marvel will also release a series of Cosmic Ghost Rider variant covers in September, pairing the anti-hero with other Marvel heroes.
Though speculative, continued success in Marvel’s publishing could lead to an appearance of the anti-hero in an upcoming MCU project. Spider-Gwen, a character who first appeared in 2015 and gained a considerable fanbase, will appear in Sony’s
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse film in December.
Marvel Studios will further explore the cosmic side of the MCU in Phase 4 and beyond, but does that include Cosmic Ghost Rider? Post
Avengers 4, anything can happen. Galactus will likely appear in a future Marvel Studios film once Disney’s acquisition of Fox is completed, so his heralds would soon follow.
Cosmic Ghost Rider’s backstory is unsurprisingly zany, as explored in Thanos #16. He was The Punisher, real name Frank Castle, on Earth-TRN666. Frank died in an invasion from Thanos, was sent to Hell, sold his soul and became the new Ghost Rider. Then Frank lost his mind, inherited the Power Cosmic from Galactus, and finally served as the Right Hand of the all-powerful King Thanos.