Ghost Rider's New Role Makes Him Essential to Marvel Lore
Warning: Contains spoilers for Ghost Rider #2
Marvel's new Ghost Rider series has just kicked off and it has already given the titular character a new role and purpose in the Marvel Universe ahead of its 50th anniversary: to keep demons at bay. An encounter with a foul, man-eating creature reveals that the Spirit of Vengeance is what keeps these nightmares in the dark, and its prolonged absence made them grow bolder… and more hungry.
Ghost Rider was incredibly successful in the 1980s and for part of the 1990s, but since then has struggled to find its niche in the vast Marvel library of characters. His connection to the demons Mephisto, Zarathos, and the otherworldly realm of Hell obviously make his stories steer towards the supernatural rather than the classic superhero genre, but the new Ghost Rider series seems to be diving deep into horror-inspired tones and settings. In the first two issues, Johnny Blaze found himself trapped in an eerily suburban town, with his memory wiped and a fake life as an average husband and father. After discovering that the town was actually a prison, and the citizens were all demons (including his «wife» and «children»), Johnny let the Spirit of Vengeance out for the first time in months and burned the place down. After that, he got on the road and ended up in another classic horror setting: a roadside motel in the middle of nowhere.
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This is where the Ghost Rider's new purpose becomes clear. Johnny seems no longer in full control of his Spirit of Vengeance. He is unaware of what happens when he transforms during nighttime, making Ghost Rider mirror Bruce Banner and the Hulk. What has not changed, however, is the Ghost
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