Ryan Gosling mounted the stage at Hall H during San Diego Comic-Con and, by his own admission, seemed almost surprised to be there. “Wow. Is this really happening?” the actor asked a crowd of nearly 7,000, many of whom had camped for two nights to secure a seat and were now wearing the green cloaks and metal masks of the villain Doctor Doom, handed out by the studio earlier that Saturday. Gosling confirmed what had been rumoured for years: he would play Ghost Rider, the motorbike-riding Spirit of Vengeance, in a film directed by Shawn Levy and slated for 2028. The announcement was one of two major casting reveals that signalled Marvel Studios’ determination to anchor its next phase in iconic, long-gestating characters.

Hours later, the same stage welcomed David Jonsson, the 32-year-old British actor known for Industry and Alien: Romulus, as the new lead of Black Panther 3. Jonsson will not replace Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa directly; instead he plays Prince T’Challa II, the son introduced as a child at the end of Wakanda Forever. Director Ryan Coogler, returning for the third film, told the audience the story would follow the young prince as he comes of age and assumes his father’s mantle. The crowd erupted in Wakanda chants as Jonsson pressed a hand to his chest, visibly moved. “Thank you to this family that I have the honour and the blessing to join,” he said, before adding that he wanted to let the screen do the talking. The film will reach cinemas on 15 December 2028.

Both announcements carry the weight of cultural memory. Ghost Rider has not appeared in a film since 2011’s Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, starring Nicolas Cage, and the rights only recently returned to Marvel Studios. Gosling’s attachment renews a character long coveted by fans, and one the actor himself had publicly campaigned to play since 2022; he often noted that his partner, Eva Mendes, co-starred in Cage’s original 2007 film. For Black Panther, the stakes are different: Chadwick Boseman’s death in 2020 at 43 from colon cancer left an emotional chasm. Marvel’s choice to move the story forward through his son avoids re-casting the beloved king while honouring the legacy. The first Black Panther grossed $1.3bn globally and became the first superhero film nominated for Best Picture; its cultural resonance, particularly among Black audiences, remains a benchmark.

The Hall H presentation itself reflected the franchise’s self-awareness about legacy and reinvention. Robert Downey Jr., once the face of the MCU as Iron Man, strode on stage to promote Avengers: Doomsday as the new arch-villain Doctor Doom. He invited the audience – already wearing his character’s mask – to “join the family of Doom,” and with a deadpan nod to his green costume, remarked, “It isn’t easy being green.” The moment distilled the studio’s gambit: repurposing its most bankable star in a darker register, while flooding the hall with thousands of villain masks that turned the audience into a willing army. The panel also included appearances by Chris Evans, Pedro Pascal, and a surprise cameo by Ryan Reynolds in a denim Deadpool costume, all building toward the December release of Doomsday.

As the session ended, the lasting image was not a superhero in a cape but the sight of Downey Jr., cloaked in emerald, surveying a sea of identically masked faces. After more than a decade of heroes, Marvel’s most fervent fans had momentarily become foot soldiers of its greatest villain.