GHOST RIDER MOVIE: COMIC-CON PANEL

The Continuum continues its coverage of the Ghost Rider movie, following up a two-part interview with writer/director Mark Steven Johnson and actress Eva Mendes on Comic-Con International in San Diego with an edited transcription of the film's panel.

Johnson and Mendes were joined by producer Avi Arad of Marvel Studios as the panel.

Following is from the question-and-answer session:

Question: Are you dealing with Johnny Blaze's origin with Zarathos

Johnson: Yeah, it's definitely Zarathos is the spirit inside of him. I didn't want to get caught up with the mythology that got too convoluted. I went to the origin, Johnny Blaze, the young boy at the Quentin Carnival. Later on, when they tried to combine Johnny with Danny Ketch, all the mythology got a little bit heavy. So it is definitely that, truly from the original comics.

Question: (To Johnson) This time you're working with Sony instead of Fox (Daredevil). Will they make you cut a half-hour out again or will this be your preferred director's version of the movie in theaters?

Johnson: It's exactly what I wanted. I've been very lucky. Sony's been terrifically supportive. Obviously, they've had a lot of success with Marvel, and they get it. I really owe a lot Nic (Cage), aside from this man (Avi). He's really one of us. He's a huge fan. He was always there as a partner, making sure they did it right, making sure they weren't going to start cutting the story apart or getting scared that the content might be too dark or it should be this or that.

No, this isn't one of those cases where there will be a director's cut that's radically different movie than it was with Daredevil.

Question: I would like to see some excellent CGI done on Ghost Rider.

Johnson: Yeah, thanks. We've got the guys who did Spider-Man 1 and 2, Sony Imageworks, that are doing it. They're really the best in the business. Kevin Mack, the visual effects person, he did Fight Club and he's really at the top of his game.

We played with the idea of looking at a mask, but of course once you're playing with fire you're in a CG realm anyway. It's kind of interesting, the way the Ghost Rider works. We film Nic or his double, dressed as the Ghost Rider, with the spikes, chains, leather and everything on him. But he wears an interactive light collar around his neck, sometimes a whole green helmet, and that's what we're going to be removing. So it is the person, it is the actor, but the head itself is CG. And that was our biggest challenge, making sure it looks absolutely fantastic.

And being able to use fire as a way to give expression, which you can't with a skull. You take the shadows of the fire and the way the fire moves to give expressions and moods, which is really great because you can't get that in the comic. You can see it change before your eyes. When Ghost Rider's angry, he'll go white-hot with flame. When he gets sad, it will literally go blue. There's a way you can use the fire as an extension of his personality.

Question: Eva, you get to play a lot of strong women in your roles. How does that compare to his role?

Mendes: What's really cool is about this role -- aside from the obvious, working with these right guys here and Nic and being part of the Ghost Rider in general -- is that the original Roxanne in the comics is my antithesis physically. She was blonde, white, and I'm not. I'd like to thank Mark for going outside the box and doing something different.

I didn't know about Ghost Rider, and I started going through the comic books, and I realized that she was a little bit victimy. She was like, "Johnny, no!" and a lot of tears and all that stuff. A conscious thing that Mark and I did was we though, "Let's make her a little badass. Let's make this contemporary."

Women now, we can juggle a lot of things. We're not just girlfriends or love interests. So that's really great to not just make her the chick and give her something to do.

Question: Are you combining the horse and the motorcyle versions?

Johnson: That's a good question, but I can't answer it. I'm really sorry. I don't want to give away too much and that one feels like I might.

Question: Is there a pact like there is in the comic book?

Johnson: It is a Mephistopholes-based deal, and it's always in the background, and then Blackheart is the main villain. I did a lot of research on demonology and one of the stories I founded fascinated was the whole rebel angel story, where Lucifer led the charge into Heaven and when he lost, St. Michael cast him down and all the rebel angels became fallen angels.

One of the mythologies I really liked, some of the fallen angels didn't follow Lucifer into Hell. Some landed in the desert, some fell into the ocean, some kept falling, and they became elemental demons, demons that hide in the elements. I thought that was a really cool idea and so that was kind of the basis for Blackheart coming here. Blackheart's tired of waiting for the End of Days, so, like a lot of young people, he says I'm going to give my dad the finger and do it myself. So he comes here and he begins collecting these demons. So Johnny as the Ghost Rider must find them and bring them back.

Question: Eva, how did you like being in this movie, compared to others?

Mendes: Well, I'll you, I had the best time of my life making this movie. It sounds so corny, but you're out there filming in Australia and these people became my family. And we got along, and Mark was so supportive.

I'm the kind of actress that I'll get crazy ideas in the middle of the night. And I'd call him up a 3 or 4 in the morning and say, "Mark, what is Nic Cage calls me Roxie instead of Roxanne?" And I'd think I'd invent something really amazing, which is really silly of me. And I'm sure he's on the other end just rolling his eyes, going, "OK, all right."