Connor Storrie may be swapping hockey skates for hellfire. The Heated Rivalry star is reportedly in talks to play the villain opposite Ryan Gosling in Marvel’s upcoming Ghost Rider film. So yes, one minute he is playing a professional hockey star involved in a complicated romance. The next, he may be making life difficult for a man whose head regularly catches fire.
Hollywood certainly knows how to change the mood.
Variety reports that Storrie is discussing a role in the film, although Marvel has not confirmed the casting or revealed which villain he could play. Ryan Gosling will lead the project, with Shawn Levy directing from a screenplay by Jonathan Tropper. Levy and Gosling will also produce alongside Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito and Stephen Broussard. The film currently has a release date of 28 July 2028, and production is expected to begin in New York next year.
Now that gives everyone plenty of time to speculate about the villain. And speculate we must.
Ghost Rider has faced several unpleasant people during his comic-book history. Mephisto is probably the most recognisable possibility. He is a powerful demon who enjoys manipulating people, collecting souls and generally behaving like the kind of person nobody should trust with a contract. There is also Blackheart, Mephisto’s son, who appeared in the 2007 Ghost Rider film. Other possibilities include Nightmare, Zadkiel and several demonic creatures with names that strongly suggest they were never invited to children’s parties.
But until Marvel provides more information, Storrie’s character remains a mystery. The casting would mark another major step in what has become a rather successful period for the actor. Storrie gained considerable attention through Heated Rivalry, where he plays Russian hockey star Ilya Rozanov opposite Hudson Williams’ Shane Hollander. The series follows two professional rivals who maintain a secret relationship while competing on the ice.
Storrie’s performance worked because Ilya could be confident, funny and completely impossible in one moment, then unexpectedly vulnerable in the next. He knew how to make a joke feel like armour. And when that armour slipped, the quieter scenes became even more effective.
That combination could work rather well for a Marvel villain.
The best comic-book villains do not spend every scene shouting about world domination. They need charm, control and enough personality to make audiences understand why anybody would follow them. Storrie has already demonstrated that he can hold attention without doing very much. Sometimes, a look does all the work. Naturally, playing an emotionally guarded hockey star is slightly different from threatening somebody with eternal damnation. But acting is all about range.
This would also place Storrie opposite Gosling, which creates an interesting contrast. Gosling has built a career around characters who often remain extremely calm while everything around them becomes increasingly ridiculous. Storrie’s Ilya carries a similar confidence, although his version comes with more teasing and considerably more emotional chaos. Place those two in a supernatural battle and somebody will have to blink first.
Marvel announced Gosling’s Ghost Rider film during San Diego Comic-Con. The character previously reached cinemas through two films starring Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze. Those movies were not exactly treated as masterpieces, but Cage did provide a version of Ghost Rider that nobody could accuse of lacking commitment. Gosling now has the difficult job of creating another interpretation without simply repeating what came before. The supernatural side of Marvel offers him something different from the usual heroes, advanced technology and multiverse problems. Ghost Rider deals with guilt, punishment and the uncomfortable knowledge that a flaming skeleton is coming to judge your soul.
There is plenty of room for horror there.
Storrie also has another film role on the way. He will appear opposite Billie Eilish in Sarah Polley’s adaptation of The Bell Jar. Meanwhile, the second season of Heated Rivalry is currently filming and is expected to arrive in 2027. Not bad for someone whose character spent much of the first season attempting to keep his personal life hidden.
Marvel still needs to confirm the deal, and we do not know whether Storrie will play a demon, criminal or something else entirely. But the possibility is interesting because it gives him the chance to avoid becoming trapped by the role that made him famous. Connor Storrie may have spent years making Shane Hollander’s life complicated. Now Ghost Rider could be next.
