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The Walking Dead’s Norman Reedus Either Is Or Really Wants To Be The MCU’s Ghost Rider

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As ever, there are new rumors circling the MCU in terms of future productions, and one of them is that Marvel is in talks with an actor to play Ghost Rider in the MCU for the first time since we saw the Robbie Reyes version in Agents of SHIELD five years ago.

That actor is not named, but speculation is swirling that it could be Norman Reedus, Daryl Dixon from The Walking Dead. If Reedus is known for one thing, it’s killing zombies on that show. If Reedus is known for two things, it’s riding around on a motorcycle so much that AMC gave him his own show where he just rides around on his motorcycle with other actors.

But what’s not clear is whether these talks are happening, or Reedus himself is driving speculation on this due to some of his behavior on social media. Namely, fans and reporters have noticed he’s been liking tweets lobbying for him to be Ghost Rider or speculating the actor in talks for the role may be him.

This…is not just an accidental like or two. By my count, Reedus has liked 27 tweets in the last ten days about being cast or potentially cast as Ghost Rider, including many saying he would be a better option to play Johnny Blaze than Keanu Reeves, who has also been rumored to be taking a Marvel role soon (though probably not this one).

Johnny Blaze was infamously played by Nic Cage in two non-MCU Ghost Rider movies, one in 2007 and the other in 2011. They were…absurd, but about as ridiculous as you might expect from Nic Cage starring in a Ghost Rider movie. No regrets on that casting back in the day.

If Norman Reedus did join the MCU as Johnny Blaze, he would not be the first Walking Dead cast member to do so. Far from it. Michonne actress Danai Gurira has played Okoye across several Marvel movies and should return in the next Black Panther. And you may not know it, but Aaron actor Ross Marquand has been pretty heavily involved in the MCU lately, playing Red Skull in Avengers Infinity War/Endgame, and voicing Red Skull and Ultron in What If…? Daryl Dixon’s brother Merle, played by Michael Rooker, was Yondu in two Guardians of the Galaxy movies. Most recently, Daryl’s love interest Lauren Ridloff (Connie) played Connie in Eternals. Jon Bernthal (Shane) was Netflix’s MCU Punisher, who many people believe will return to the MCU someday.

So uh, yeah, there’s some amount of precedent here, and clearly Reedus has a half dozen or so ins with Walking Dead friends to be considered for a role in the MCU (and most productions film in Georgia where The Walking Dead films). But this big a role? Leading an entire film or series? No one else from the show has gotten to that scale quite yet.

I’m certainly all for it. I mean, I think you need more than “actor loves motorcycles” to find the right casting for Ghost Rider, but I can see him in the part to be sure. Though I will say, fan casting rarely works out in the MCU, and they tend to make a lot of left turns with actors you don’t see coming. So frankly I’d be a little surprised if this did work out in the end, and I guess we’ll have to wait and see what’s announced.

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