LMarvel's Ghost Rider reboot just got a villain, and it's a name almost nobody knows.
CAlmost nobody? That's either a genius casting move or a huge gamble.
LConnor Storrie is in talks to play the bad guy opposite Ryan Gosling, per The Hollywood Reporter.
COkay, I'll bite. Who is Connor Storrie?
LHe's been in a few things, but this would be his biggest role by a mile.
CSo Marvel's betting on an unknown against one of the biggest stars on the planet.
LWhich is exactly what they did with Tom Hiddleston. Nobody knew him before Loki.
CHiddleston had Shakespeare and a bunch of British TV. This is a different level of unknown.
LBut the director is Shawn Levy, who just made Deadpool and Wolverine a billion-dollar hit.
CAnd the cinematographer is Linus Sandgren, who shot La La Land. They're not messing around.
LThey're also shooting on actual film, which is a flex in 2026.
CI love that. Digital is fine, but film gives it that gritty, grainy, hellfire texture.
LGhost Rider deserves that. The Nic Cage movies were fun but they looked like music videos.
CThe second one was basically a two-hour flaming skull meme.
LThis one's supposed to be a proper horror-tinged Marvel movie. Levy's said he wants it scary.
CGood. The character is literally a demon biker. Lean into it.
LBut back to Storrie. If he's the villain, he's probably playing Blackheart or Mephisto.
CMephisto would be huge. Marvel fans have been begging for him since WandaVision.
LAnd they cast a relative unknown? That's either brilliant or they're saving money for Gosling's paycheck.
CGosling doesn't come cheap. He's Ken, he's K, he's the Fall Guy. He's expensive.
LBut here's my thing: Marvel's been criticized for hiring big names and then wasting them.
CChristian Bale in Thor. Cate Blanchett. They show up, chew scenery, vanish.
LSo maybe an unknown villain is the right call. Let the character be the star, not the actor's fame.
CI'll give you that. But if he's boring, the whole movie sinks. Gosling can't carry a villain scene alone.
LLevy's good at casting. He found the kid in Stranger Things, he made Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman work.
CTrue. And Gosling has weirdly great chemistry with everyone. Remember him and Russell Crowe in The Nice Guys?
LThat movie is criminally underrated. Anyway, I'm cautiously optimistic.
CI'm more skeptical. Unknown villain, unproven lead in a superhero role, high expectations.
LGosling's not unproven. He's been great in everything from Drive to Barbie.
CBut he's never played a superhero. It's a different muscle.
LNeither had Robert Downey Jr. before Iron Man. Look how that turned out.
CFine, that's a fair point. But Downey was a comeback story. Gosling's already on top.
LWhich means he chose this. He didn't need it. That's a good sign.
COkay, I'll stop being a downer. Ghost Rider on film, shot by the La La Land guy, with Gosling. I'm in.
LSee? That's the spirit. Now, completely different world: Kim Kardashian in Rome.
CWhat's she doing in Rome? Eating pasta in a corset?
LShe walked the red carpet at the Rome Film Festival for the premiere of All's Fair season two.
CAnd she wore an archival leopard-print Yves Saint Laurent gown, according to InStyle.
LArchival YSL. That's a deep pull. That dress is probably older than half her followers.
COne reply said she looks like a Shania Twain music video, and honestly? I see it.
LThat's not an insult. Shania Twain in the nineties was peak glamour.
CLeopard print, big hair, confidence. Kim's basically doing country-pop couture.
LBut another reply asked if the outfit distracts from the event's artistic merit.
CIt's a film festival. The red carpet IS the event for half the people there.
LExactly. Nobody's debating cinematography while Kim Kardashian walks by in vintage YSL.
CAnd All's Fair is a Ryan Murphy show. It's not exactly arthouse cinema.
LIt's glossy, soapy, and fun. The dress fits the show.
CSpeaking of premieres, the Ramayana movie had its big LA premiere last night.
LRanbir Kapoor, who plays Lord Ram, showed up and the crowd went nuts.
CThere are posts claiming Jada Pinkett Smith was there too, but I couldn't confirm that.
LThe rumor mill says she was on the red carpet, but no official photos yet.
CWhat we do know: Yash plays Ravana, and fans were chanting his name outside the theater.
LThat's the power of Indian cinema. This movie is going to be massive globally.
CThe Ramayana is one of the biggest stories ever told. If they get it right, it's a billion-dollar franchise.
LAnd they're doing it in two parts, which is smart. You can't rush that epic.
LBack to the fun stuff. A game developer on Bluesky posted about their weekly movie night.
CHakita, the creator of Ultrakill, says they watched Slender Man as their Halloween horror pick.
LSlender Man? The 2018 movie? That's a choice.
CIt's not great, but it's got a creepy vibe. Perfect for a group movie night.
LI respect a developer who makes time for movies. Keeps the creative brain fed.
CAnd then there's Patrick Monahan on Bluesky with a pitch that made me laugh.
LHe wrote: 'Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma but about a reclusive Popeye still living on the movie set in Malta.'
CThat's the most specific horror-comedy pitch I've ever heard.
LPopeye living on the old set in Malta, decades later, while teenagers get murdered around him.
CI would watch that in a heartbeat. It's absurd and kind of sad and very funny.
LThe 1980 Popeye movie set in Malta is still there, by the way. It's a tourist attraction now.
CSo the premise is actually plausible. Popeye never left. He's just... there.
LSomeone get A24 on the phone. This is their kind of weird.
CThat's the show for now. Coming up after the break: more celebrity chaos and maybe a Ghost Rider casting update.