One of the more forgotten Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) titles is Ghost Rider (2007). It is one that has largely disappeared from my memory as well. I recall seeing it in the theater, but few of the details outside of this factoid. It is interesting that so little of it left an impression given that it has a great deal of Catholic imagery in it. I suppose this makes sense given that the title superhero, birth name Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage), sells his soul to the devil. He was not aware of any abilities that might come with the deal, but such plots almost invariably end up involving the Church in some form. None of this is intended as a recognition of quality cinematic content, but as preparation for what is to follow.

Ghost Rider (2007) begins with a bit of demonic contract law, which is probably one area where this Catholic would recommend not signing anything without reading the fine print. Long before the main story, the devil, Mephistopheles (Peter Fonda), sends the eponymous supernatural bounty hunter to collect the “Contract of San Venganza,” an agreement involving a thousand corrupt souls. Realizing that giving Mephistopheles so much power would be disastrous, the Rider takes the contract and disappears. More than a century later, seventeen-year-old motorcycle stunt rider Johnny Blaze (Matt Long) learns that his father, Barton Blaze (Brett Cullen), has terminal cancer. Mephistopheles offers to cure Barton in exchange for Johnny’s soul. Johnny signs, and the next morning his father is cancer-free. Unfortunately, Barton dies that same day during a motorcycle stunt. Realizing he has been tricked, Johnny abandons plans to run away with his girlfriend, Roxanne Simpson (Raquel Alessi), and leaves her behind. Twenty years later, Johnny (Nicolas Cage) is a famous motorcycle daredevil known for surviving increasingly dangerous stunts. Prior to his most daring feat yet, he unexpectedly reunites with Roxanne (Eva Mendes), now a television reporter, and convinces her to have dinner with him. Meanwhile, Mephistopheles’ son Blackheart (Wes Bentley) arrives on Earth and recruits three fallen angels associated with earth, air, and water to help find the San Venganza contract. Mephistopheles responds by collecting on Johnny’s bargain. He transforms Johnny into the new Ghost Rider and promises to return his soul if he defeats Blackheart. Johnny’s first transformation causes him to miss his date with Roxanne as his flesh burns away and he becomes a flaming skeleton riding a motorcycle engulfed in flames. He confronts Blackheart and his followers at a train station, killing the earth demon Gressil (Laurence Breuls), though Blackheart escapes. Johnny then encounters a mugger and discovers the Penance Stare, which forces a sinner to experience all the pain he has caused others. I am sure there have been priests who would not have minded wielding a similar power, but I digress. The next morning, Johnny awakens in a cemetery and meets its mysterious caretaker (Sam Elliott), who explains that Johnny is Mephistopheles’ newest bounty hunter and that he will transform whenever evil is near. Roxanne confronts Johnny for standing her up, and he eventually tells her the truth about selling his soul and becoming a supernatural flaming skeleton, which is not the most convincing excuse for missing dinner. She assumes he is joking or crazy and leaves. Johnny is then arrested because evidence connects him to murders actually committed by Blackheart. An attack by criminals in his holding cell causes Johnny to transform and escape. He battles Abigor (Mathew Wilkinson), the fallen angel of air, whom he destroys before returning to the caretaker. There Johnny learns about Carter Slade, a nineteenth-century Texas Ranger who became a Ghost Rider after making his own bargain with Mephistopheles. Slade had been ordered to collect the thousand souls of San Venganza but instead stole the contract and hid it from the devil. Johnny returns home to discover that Blackheart has murdered his friend Mack (Donal Logue) and kidnapped Roxanne. When Johnny confronts him, the Penance Stare does not work because Blackheart has no soul. Blackheart demands the San Venganza contract in exchange for Roxanne. Johnny therefore returns to the cemetery, where the caretaker reveals that the contract has been hidden inside his shovel all along. He also lets on that he is Carter Slade. Carter tells Johnny that he may be stronger than previous Ghost Riders because he sold his soul for love rather than greed. The two transform and ride toward San Venganza, Carter on his fiery horse and Johnny on his motorcycle. At the edge of town, Carter gives Johnny his shotgun and leaves the rest to him. Johnny continues alone and destroys Wallow (Daniel Frederiksen), the water demon, before reaching Blackheart and Roxanne. He hands over the contract but tries to transform and attack before the exchange is complete. The rising sun interferes with Johnny’s powers, allowing Blackheart to obtain the contract and absorb the thousand damned souls of San Venganza into himself. Calling himself Legion, Blackheart becomes vastly more powerful. Johnny discovers he can still summon his powers while standing in shadow and attacks Blackheart with Carter’s shotgun infused with hellfire. Blackheart keeps recovering, but he has made one significant mistake. Before absorbing the contract, he had no soul and could not be affected by the Penance Stare. Now he contains a thousand of them. Johnny uses the Stare, forcing Blackheart to experience the suffering caused by all those corrupt souls and defeating him. Mephistopheles appears and offers to remove Johnny’s curse now that the task is complete. Rather than surrender his dark gifts and risk the devil using their power through someone else, he vows to fight Mephistopheles and anyone who harms the innocent. The devil promises revenge and disappears with Blackheart. Roxanne tells Johnny that he has been given a second chance, and the two share a final kiss. Johnny then rides away, having begun the story by surrendering his soul to save someone he loved and ending it by choosing to bear his curse in order to protect others.

No matter Ghost Rider’s intentions with his powers, the real curse is selling one’s soul. This is one of the things that bugged me about the movie throughout. This fact cannot be emphasized enough: there is nothing more important for us than our souls. It is the part of us that is immortal, and what we do in this life will determine where it spends eternity. There will be some who argue with me, saying that he made the bargain in order to save his father. I can applaud doing something semi-selfless instead of trying to obtain worldly pleasures like Faust. By the way, that is not me being overly intellectual, but an actual reference made in the film. The problem is that, as Faust discovered, the devil does not play fair. We see it with Barton’s untimely death, and later when Johnny unexpectedly is turned into a flaming skeleton and told to hunt down demons. As an aside, do not try to figure out how all this works. The rules seem to be made up as the story goes along, like Johnny being able to use his powers in the shadows when the sun is up. Further, when they do state a restriction, like the demons not being able to enter holy ground, we then witness Blackheart inside a Catholic church looking for the Contract of San Venganza. At least the priest appears to be aware that he is in the presence of evil and does not just roll over and let Blackheart do whatever he wants. Many films in these situations show the Church being complicit with such villains. Either way, Johnny should never have signed over his soul, eventually becoming the Ghost Rider. What makes it arguably worse is the blithe attitude he has about the matter. It is not a joking matter.

What is more of a joke is Ghost Rider as a film. Again, our souls should be taken seriously, which the movie wants us to do. Yet, you have Cage’s silliness deflating many scenes, which detracts from the overall tone. Finally, I am unsure as to whether the good guys win in the end. I dislike such ambiguity.