Marvel Honors Johnny Blaze’s Farewell as Ghost Rider With a Greg Capullo Variant

[ad_1]

Marvel is about to have Johnny Blaze split from the Spirit of Vengeance, but before that officially happens, Johnny is going out in style as superstar artist Greg Capullo is contributing a special variant cover for this new series featuring Johnny as Ghost Rider for perhaps the last time.

The cover will be a variant cover for Ghost Rider: Final Vengeance, by writer Benjamin Percy and artist Danny Kim, continuing Percy’s Ghost Rider run into a new series with Johnny being replaced as the Ghost Rider.

Ghost Rider Wolverine Weapons of Vengeance Alpha #1 Cover

REVIEW: Marvel’s Ghost Rider/Wolverine: Weapons of Vengeance Alpha #1

Percy and Shaw take readers on a journey to the dark side of the Marvel Universe in Ghost Rider/Wolverine: Weapons of Vengeance Alpha #1.

Why is Johnny Blaze no longer Ghost Rider?

Greg Capullo's variant cover for Ghost Rider: Final Vengeance #1

Throughout Percy’s run up until this point, a major focus of the series has been The Cult of Mephisto, who had some sort of connection to the demon that Johnny Blaze has been bonded with for years (as Ghost Rider #19 noted, “They are tied to the same current of darkness”). However, while Johnny has always tried to take his dark fate and use it for as much good as he can as the Ghost Rider, he now will not have a chance to do so anymore.

The finale of Percy’s previous Ghost Rider series teased a confrontation with The Cult of Mephisto, and the solicit noted:

END OF THE ROAD! The Cult of Mephisto is possessing the next generation of humanity! But even if the Spirit of Vengeance stops the Cult, what does that mean for the future of Ghost Rider? Could this be the end of an era?

Clearly, then, the conflict will end with Johnny no longer the Ghost Rider, and the new series will be about Johnny trying to become Ghost Rider again.

johnny blaze trying to reach for a falling danny ketch, both in their ghost rider forms

Ghost Rider Learns a Harsh Lesson About Hell – And Why He Should Stay The Hell Out

Johnny Blaze is taking the Ghost Rider on another trip through Marvel’s Hell, and it is the last place in any dimension where he wants to be.

Who will be the new Spirit of Vengeance?

During Percy’s run, Johnny has been working with Talia Warroad, a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who is now working as a paranormal investigator. When she was a teen, though, she was sucked into The Cult of Mephisto through its charismatic leader, Stefan Skaar, and we have seen flashbacks to her past with the Cult while she helps Johnny try to take them down in the present. Naturally, then, speculation would lead one to believe that Warroad would be the new Ghost Rider.

However, in the press release announcing Ghost Rider: Final Vengeance, Marvel noted, that in the new series, we “will see the Spirit of Vengeance fall into the wrong hands and fans won’t believe who it is! Now, Johnny Blaze must embark on an epic quest to become Ghost Rider again before the newly possessed uses its demonic power for a dark purpose.” That seems to suggest it is an established character other than Warroad, but we will know for sure when Ghost Rider: Final Vengeance launches next year.

Ghost Rider: Final Vengeance #1 is scheduled to be released on March 13, 2024.

Source: Marvel