The Marvel Movie You Likely Forgot Starred Wes Bentley
Wes Bentley is one of those actors who's always working — even if quietly — on the next big thing. One look at his IMDb page is enough to tell you that the "Yellowstone" star knows how to keep his business in line. Most of his credits, which, to be fair, include the wildly bearded Seneca Crane from "Hunger Games" and a slew of characters for the anthology series "American Horror Story," aren't exactly blockbusters. But then again, few ever really achieve that level of constant fame.
And while we're here to respect a dutiful performer, we can't help but rib him just a little for a movie he did back in 2007. In case you don't remember, Bentley starred in a Marvel property before Robert Downey Jr. donned his famous Iron Man suit. Before Edward Norton took his turn as the Hulk, even. You see, before there was the Marvel Cinematic Universe ... there was "Ghost Rider."
Remember Ghost Rider?
"Ghost Rider" was a 2007 joint effort between Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures, and starred none other than Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze, aka the Ghost Rider — a daredevil who becomes a supernatural crimefighter after a deal with the devil goes sour. The film also featured such talent as Sam Elliott, Eva Mendes, and, of course, Wes Bentley. The critics mercilessly lambasted "Ghost Rider," and even though the movie was a box office success, netting $228.7 million worldwide on a budget of $110 million (per Box Office Mojo), the audience's interest proved to be kinder than that of the professional reviewers.
As of now, "Ghost Rider" is sitting at 26% on Rotten Tomatoes, and with the unending onslaught of high profile superhero films that have come since, we hardly blame you if the film slipped your mind. Bentley's role in the film is relatively minor, too. He appears as the villain Blackheart, Ghost Rider's mythical punching bag for most of the third act.
Blackheart, Son Of Mephisto
Blackheart is the demonic son of Mephisto, who is kind of Marvel's version of the Biblical Satan. We use the term "son" here because that's how Mephisto defines their relationship. Blackheart was not created in the usual way, but rather by the accumulated dark energy from centuries of murder in a small town called Christ's Crown, New York. His usual purpose is that of a malicious errand boy for his less-than-doting father, and he's often seen doing battle against the likes of Daredevil and Spider-Man. In the 2007 film, Wes Bentley's Blackheart is more akin to a horseman of the apocalypse figure, with a deadly, sulfuric touch that destroys his victims almost instantly.
There has been a lot of chatter recently about the possibility of Mephisto being introduced as a big bad into the MCU, which, as CinemaBlend points out, would make sense given the character's association with Scarlet Witch, aka Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen). So, it does seem possible that we could see another live-action depiction of Blackheart, although he is unlikely to be portrayed by Wes Bentley again.