Ghost Rider Goes Back To Source

Mark Steven Johnson, who wrote and directed Nicolas Cage's upcoming Ghost Rider, told SCI FI Wire that he based the movie on the original comics that appeared in the late 1970s and early '80s. "Mine's the original," Johnson said in an interview at Comic-Con International in San Diego. "Mine's Johnny Blaze. It's really pretty much the classic story. You know, very, very few changes. But it's all about selling your soul."

Ghost Rider, based on the Marvel Comics series, centers on Blaze (Cage), a motorcycle stunt rider who moonlights as an avenging demon with a flaming skull. The comics originally appeared from 1973 to '83. A second series, which appeared from 1990 to '98, centered on a different character, Daniel Ketch, who was later revealed to be Johnny Blaze's brother.

The movie makes a few changes to the original story. In the movie, it's the character of Johnny Blaze's father for whom Johnny makes his deal to sell his soul, not his mentor, as in the comics. "In our case, it's the father, not the stepfather, but the father who has lung cancer, who, having to leave the girl behind and ... being cursed and having to hit the road. All that stuff is in." But Johnson added that he made use of later incarnations of the comic for the film's unique look. "The spiked jacket," he said. "This isn't the blue full-body jumpsuit, you know? ... And the motorcycle he had in the early comics, I wasn't a big fan of. I thought we could do better." He added: "The Caretaker [played by Sam Elliott] from the Ketch years is a character I always liked a lot. You know, I wanted to find a way to use him. As was Blackheart [the villian from the Ketch series]. So a lot of it was taken from later. But the origin and a lot of the heart and the soul of it was from the Johnny years." Ghost Rider opens Feb. 16, 2007.

Sony Pictures - Ghost Rider Offical Website

- The Monster