Connor Storrie joins Marvel

Heated Rivalry season two is in production now, but Connor Storrie is not coasting. Yesterday, multiple trades reported that he is in talks to star in Ghost Rider with Ryan Gosling. He already has multiple projects in various stages of production, including Molly Gordon’s high-school(ish) comedy Peaked, Craig Zobel’s thriller Turpentine (co-starring Melissa McCarthy and Paul Walter Hauser), Halina Reijn’s Babygirl follow-up Please, and Sarah Polley’s adaptation of The Bell Jar. Now he’s adding a franchise to his roster.

The Hollywood Reporter says he’ll play a villain in Ghost Rider, which is interesting for three reasons. One, everyone loves a sexy villain. The villain always has the most fun. Two, Ghost Rider doesn’t really have a signature villain, so Storrie could be playing anyone. Probably some kind of demon, given Ghost Rider’s actual deal with the devil, but he’s not going to be nailed to some fan-faithful expectations. It’s not like he’s stepping in to play Doctor Doom, lol (though in hindsight…).

And three, playing a villain means this could be a one-and-done deal for Storrie. Sure, with Marvel there’s always a chance they’ll call you back in a decade to do something else (see also: James Spader in VisionQuest eleven years after Avengers: Age of Ultron), but it’s very possible this will be a one-off for Storrie, not unlike Tony Leung appearing in Shang-Chi. Storrie is in crazy demand and given his post-HR choices, which are filmmaker focused, it might be easier to get him for one movie rather than sign him to a multi-year deal. He’s not in Ryan Gosling’s position, with 25 years of incredible work behind him and nothing left to prove; Connor is still building his reputation, and being locked into a ten-picture deal might not best serve his vision for his career.

I’ve said before I don’t think superhero roles will work for actors in the 2020s the way they did in the 2010s, in terms of minting and cementing new stars. You can already kind of see it, with the people Marvel is chasing—a lot of established talent, rather than the newbies and C-listers they were plucking in the early 2010s. As famous as Connor Storrie is now, he is still defining his place in Hollywood. Playing a villain who won’t be needed for a new film every 18-24 months allows a lot more flexibility over his time. And so far, he is using his time very wisely.

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