Marvel's Hall H Panel Reveals Ryan Gosling's Ghost Rider, Black Panther 3 Casting, and New Avengers: Doomsday Footage

Marvel Studios just held its Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con, and there is a lot to get through. I wanted to give a proper rundown of everything that was confirmed now that I have had a little time to digest it.

The panel opened with Herbie, the Fantastic Four robot, greeting everyone, and Doom masks and cloaks were handed out to people in attendance. Kevin Feige came out on stage looking good. It was also confirmed that the Avengers: Endgame re-release will come with an exclusive look at Avengers: Doomsday when it returns to theaters on September 25th.

Ryan Gosling is officially Ghost Rider, and I am hoping for a Nic Cage connection

Ryan Gosling has officially been cast as Ghost Rider in the MCU. An official logo was revealed and it looks great, but it was not shared which version of Ghost Rider he will be playing. The film is being directed by Shawn Levy, who directed Deadpool and Wolverine and is also directing a new Star Wars movie, described at the panel as the first Star Wars movie since The Rise of Skywalker, which struck me as odd given Mandalorian and Grogu.

Ryan Gosling in the lead role already puts this on another level for me. As I put it, "he brings a certain like gravitas and like fun and like legitimacy to a role." I would argue Ghost Rider is a more popular Marvel character than he gets credit for being, even if he is not on the level of Spider-Man, Wolverine, or Hulk. Ryan Gosling play him makes me think the tone will lean into dark comedy, since Ghost Rider is a very dark character at his core.

I really hope they do with Nicolas Cage what was done with Sam Elliott, meaning I hope Cage returns to play the Danny Ketch version of Ghost Rider as a mentor figure to Gosling's take, rather than reprising Johnny Blaze. That is not confirmed, just something I am holding out hope for.

Ryan Reynolds and Hayley Atwell are confirmed for Avengers: Doomsday, and a new poster dropped

Ryan Reynolds is confirmed to appear in Avengers: Doomsday as Deadpool. I think that confirms he has a much bigger role than initially thought. Hayley Atwell is also confirmed for the film. A new Doctor Doom poster was revealed as well, and when I first saw it I thought it looked like a promotional image for a Doom hot toy, which is not an insult since hot toys look great. I like that the poster has the Avengers "A" worked into it rather than being just another floating head poster, even though I do enjoy a good floating head poster for a comic book movie too.

Pedro Pascal confirmed at the panel that Doom and Reed have a history in Avengers: Doomsday. New footage was shown of the two of them, with Reed asking, "Victor, did you do this?" and Doom responding, "All of you have lived stolen lives and now you must give them back."

Doom's line about "stolen lives" points to a bigger multiverse argument

That line got me thinking about everything across the MCU that fits the idea of stolen lives: Tobey Maguire's villains, the X-Men rewriting time on multiple occasions, Steve Rogers going back into the past, and the Fantastic Four tampering with what was supposedly meant to happen by refusing to let Galactus have Franklin. In that last case, either Galactus was meant to get Franklin or Earth was meant to be destroyed, but the Fantastic Four found a third option, which knocked Galactus, who is essentially a part of nature, off his course. I started to add the Avengers undoing the snap to that list, but caught myself, since undoing the snap was actually supposed to happen.

All of that adds up to a compelling setup for Doomsday. Doom is framed as the villain, but he can make the argument that the heroes are the reason the entire multiverse is dying and that he is the one trying to save it. "You guys are the reason that the entire multiverse is dying. I'm just trying to save it," is the kind of case he can make, and I think that is a genuinely strong idea to build the movie around.

The Avengers: Doomsday cast assembled on stage, mutants included

The cast of Avengers: Doomsday came out together, including Winston Duke, the actress who plays Shuri, Paul Rudd, Anthony Mackie, Simu Liu, and the actor who plays Joaquin Torres' Falcon. It is notable that Namor stood alongside the X-Men members, since Namor is himself a mutant. Kelsey Grammer appeared as Beast, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, and James Marsden as Cyclops, all standing with the Avengers, which is wild to see. Sentry, Ghost, and Red Guardian were also present.

Hayley Atwell was confirmed to return and stood on stage with Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal, and Robert Downey Jr. was out there as well. Chris Hemsworth was notably absent from that grouping. A video clip showed Downey joking, "This seems like an awfully expensive way to announce a film," and asking when filming starts, only to be told, "It's in the can, bro," with a joke that "Deadpool wants to be in the movie and he totally is."

James Marsden spoke about the moment, saying, "I think the fans have been kind of pent up for a long period of time... there's been talk about bringing these characters back for several, several years, and it never really came about until" a call from Kevin Feige. He added, "it feels like we're giving the fans what they want to see, and we're going to see Cyclops... maxing." Hayley Atwell also spoke about Steve and Peggy's story, saying, "you can't really have Steve without Peggy or without the longing for Peggy," and that this outing gives Peggy "something different to do, something new, something more," adding that "the stakes are so high" and that it is "such an existential epic of a movie." Robert Downey Jr. also appeared in footage saying, "You may consider the alternative of perhaps joining the family of doom."

A new Spider-Man: Brand New Day clip shows Professor Hulk starting to lose control

A new clip from Spider-Man: Brand New Day was shown at the panel, featuring Spider-Man and Punisher fighting Hulk, who is in his Professor Hulk form but beginning to lose it. Based on what was established in She-Hulk, the inhibitor Bruce Banner uses only keeps him in his Bruce Banner form, so if that inhibitor is broken and he is in his physical Hulk form, he should still be Professor Hulk. This new footage suggesting he is starting to lose control implies something is unleashing the more feral Hulk mindset, and I suspect that could be tied to whoever the mind hopper turns out to be, possibly Jean Grey or someone using her powers. In the clip, Hulk ends up getting hit with some kind of web bomb from Spider-Man.

Ryan Coogler confirmed Black Panther 3 is shooting on film, with T'Challa's son cast in the lead

Ryan Coogler came out on stage for Black Panther 3, and I am curious whether that title sticks, since the last sequel was called Black Panther: Wakanda Forever rather than Black Panther 2. Personally I like Black Panther 3 as a title, though it may change. It was confirmed the film is shooting on film, which is a significant choice, and Coogler is the one who made that happen.

The actor who played the android in Alien: Romulus has been cast as T'Challa's son, previously seen as a younger character in Wakanda Forever. He will be playing the new Black Panther as T'Challa Jr., so while this is not a recasting of T'Challa, the mantle is effectively returning through his son. Letitia Wright appeared on stage alongside him, and he was seen thanking the audience and everyone involved for the opportunity.

Leaked Avengers: Doomsday trailer audio matched footage shown at the panel

Leaked audio and footage said to be from the full Avengers: Doomsday trailer shown at the panel started circulating, and I watched it to check whether it was legitimate. It focuses heavily on Doctor Doom, including a line from Sue about knowing Victor before he changed, saying he was different when everything he loved was taken from him, but that she did not realize he was broken. The footage shows Gambit, Magneto, Xavier, Thor, and what looked like Steve Rogers all reacting to Doom, along with Doom performing a superhero landing while controlling Sentinels. Reed is heard again asking, "Victor, did you do this?" in a moment that plays as the point where Doom's betrayal becomes clear, and the footage also reveals his throne room.

What do you make of Doom's argument that the multiverse's heroes are the ones who caused this crisis?