The familiar flaming skull and motorcycle wheels of Ghost Rider are replaced with a fire-orange ponytail and a pair of roller skate boots with flame-engulfed wheels in a fan art tribute that reimagines the Spirit of Vengeance as a roller derby girl.
Comic artist and illustrator Sweeney Boo shared a trio of sketches of the reworked hero on Twitter. The first image shows a full body shot with bright orange hair in place of the usual hellfire, and a half skull mask underneath instead of completely skeletal features. There's also a half-length leather jacket over a cropped t-shirt, biker shorts under crossing belts and, naturally, a chain cinched around the waist. Fingerless gloves and the chunky and spiked boot/flaming roller skate hybrids finish off the ensemble along with a chain-wrapped bat as a final touch. The other two images show the skull mask pulled up over the heroine's face, revealing a serious expression with dark eye makeup framed by black hair. The skates have orange wheels instead of flames in the final sketch. "Ghost rider but make it roller girl," Boo captioned the tweet, along with a skull emoji.
Boo has worked for a variety of clients as an artist, from stalwarts like Marvel (Marvel Action: Captain Marvel) and DC (The Joker - Punchline) to her own work Over My Dead Body. She also has a variety of other sketches on her personal website that include more traditional superheroes like Wonder Woman, Catwoman, Storm and She-Hulk as well as witches of all types, one of her favorite subjects.
Ghost Rider variants have been much in discussion recently by the likes of Nicolas Cage, who portrayed the Johnny Blaze iteration in 2007's Ghost Rider film and the 2012 follow-up Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. During an Ask Me Anything forum on Reddit, Cage shared his guarded response to returning to the character. "I would really need to see what they had in mind before answering that," he wrote, declining to elaborate when more questions were asked about what he would need to see to return to the role.
In an earlier interview, Cage also had to shoot down the possibility of an appearance in the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. "Oh, I don't think so. I don't think they're casting me," he said disappointedly when asked about a cameo. "I mean, I would do it. It would be fun. I'd love to work with [Benedict] Cumberbatch, but I don't think that's happening." Cumberbatch plays the titular Dr. Strange in the sequel, set to premiere in theaters on May 6. There have already been multiple rumors and much speculation over other cameos in the film, from Patrick Stewart returning as Professor X to Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool.
First appearing in comics in Marvel Spotlight #5 in 1972, the mantle of the Spirit of Vengeance has passed to many different characters over the years, from Blaze to Robbie Reyes to Kushala, to name just a few. Sweeney Boo's roller girl version continues that long and varied tradition.
Source: Twitter
