She-Hulk Creators Put An End To Ghost Rider Theories
"She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" stars newcomer Tatiana Maslany as Jennifer Walters, aka She-Hulk, a lawyer leading the charge for enhanced individuals in a legal system that still has almost no clue about how to handle superpowered incidents. It's messy and weird and fun and has exactly the sort of shenanigans that make for a great entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe's serialized projects.
In the lead-up to its release on Disney+, a rumor has been circulating that the show will lay the groundwork for a Ghost Rider appearance (no doubt fueled by Ryan Gosling's interest in playing the role) due to the inclusion of a character named Donny Blaze (Rhys Coiro), whose name is just a few letters off from Ghost Rider's: Johnny Blaze.
In an uncommon display of forthcomingness, Marvel has actually given a definitive answer to the rumor. Here's what the cast and creative team of "She-Hulk" had to say about it.
Donny Blaze is no Ghost Rider, but he might be a reference
During the series' red carpet premiere, Deadline asked Rhys and his wife, Kat Coiro — the latter of whom directed two-thirds of "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" — whether or not Donny Blaze was an intentional reference to Johnny Blaze, aka Ghost Rider, or if the character was a potential link to an as-yet-unseen character in the MCU. While they elaborated on the parameters of the role, neither felt they had the proper authority to definitively confirm or deny a connection to the more famous, more lethal Blaze.
It was executive producer Jessica Gao who provided a more definitive answer. "He's not Ghost Rider — his name is Donny Blaze," said Gao. "This is just a magician who picked a stage name that he thought was going to get a lot of attention." So that's an official no-go, then. Donny Blaze is not a link to Johnny Blaze.
That being said, it's a little suspicious that the writers would give the name Donny Blaze to a one-off magician character when Johnny Blaze is such a high-profile MCU name who got his own start in a similar sort of dangerous pageantry. So it's either an intentional reference and they're gaslighting us à la Andrew Garfield's lies about "Spider-Man: No Way Home," or someone in the writers' room thought they were incredibly funny and slipped the joke right under the higher-ups' noses.