<\/p>\n
Credit: Far Out \/ MUBI<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Considering that just about every famous actor on the planet has been involved in the franchise, it\u2019s easy to forget that Idris Elba<\/a> was part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe once upon a time.<\/p>\n Elba was actually an early adopter of the box office juggernaut, playing Heimdall in Thor<\/em>, just the fourth entry in the now-monumental series. As the all-seeing guardian of the Bifr\u00f6st, Heimdall played a vital role in the Asgardian adventures of the MCU, eventually meeting a noble end in Avengers: Infinity War<\/em>. However, this wasn\u2019t his only superhero excursion in 2011.\u00a0<\/p>\n About eight months after the premiere of Thor<\/em>, Elba turned up in another Marvel property, although this one wasn\u2019t part of Kevin Feige\u2019s billion-dollar tapestry. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance<\/em> was the follow-up to Nicolas Cage\u2019s first outing as the flaming-skulled motorcycle enthusiast from four years earlier. Elba joined the franchise as Moreau, an agent of an underground religious movement hailing from France\u2026 Well, at least I think he was supposed to be French; his accent doesn\u2019t offer much of a clue.\u00a0<\/p>\n Spirit of Vengeance<\/em> was designed to be completely different from its forerunner, owing to the poor reviews that Ghost Rider<\/em> received \u2013 Elba was all too aware of this risky strategy, as he explained to Comic Book Movie<\/em><\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cIt was definitely a sort of like a, \u2018Hm, should I be doing this?\u2019 because of the previous film,\u201d he said. \u201cBut, there was a new take on it, and I personally know what I can bring to the table, and I just felt that there was something there to work with. So, I believe that the second version of Ghost Rider<\/em> has a completely different DNA. Just a different feeling and tempo \u2013 and I\u2019m part of that. So, hopefully, people will be forgiving.\u201d<\/p>\n The original Ghost Rider<\/em>, which saw Cage step into the shoes of stuntman-turned-demon Johnny Blaze, was a financial hit, but failed to win over critics \u2013 this was in 2007, one year out from Iron Man, <\/em>and Robert Downey Jr revolutionised superhero flicks forever<\/a>, but reviewers had already been treated to Bryan Singer\u2019s X-Men<\/em> and Sam Raimi\u2019s Spider-Man<\/em> series, and by comparison, Ghost Rider<\/em> was deemed run-of-the-mill, which is a mad thing to say when you remember the premise \u2013 so for Spirit of Vengeance<\/em>, they decided to go all out.<\/p>\n The sequel opted for a less grounded, more B-movie-style approach, spearheaded by one of Cage\u2019s most insane performances<\/a> ever, and despite a few positive reviews, not everyone was on board with the over-the-top approach. <\/p>\n