New Delhi, July 28 -- LOS ANGELES - Ryan Gosling did not get cast as Ghost Rider. He went and asked to be. At Marvel Studios' Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday, Kevin Feige confirmed that Gosling had approached the studio with a specific creative vision for the character, placing him among the very few Hollywood stars to self-initiate a major superhero franchise rather than audition for one.

"A character I've wanted to play for a long time," Gosling told the Hall H crowd, drawing one of the weekend's loudest responses. The announcement positioned Ghost Rider as an actor-driven MCU project, distinct in origin from the typical studio process that has defined Marvel's casting for nearly two decades.

Feige confirmed the genesi...