[_____V_____]

Ghost Rider 2 will be the 'Casino Royale' of the franchise, according to Screenwriter David Goyer.

In an interview with MTV News, the Batman Begins screenwriter said that whilst the movie won't be a straight up reboot, there will be a significant change in tone: "I hate to say it's more realistic, because he's got a flaming skull for a head, but it's a bit more stripped down and darker. It's definitely changing tone. What Casino Royale was to the Bond movies, hopefully this will be to Ghost Rider."

Goyer also revealed that the sequel will begin shooting next year, and that Nicolas Cage, who played the demonic motorcyclist in the original, is still attached to reprise his role.

Plot-wise, it seems Goyer is sticking close to the script that has been online for a few years. "This story picks up eight years after the first film," he said. "You don't have to have seen the first film. It doesn't contradict anything that happened in the first film, but we're pretending that our audience hasn't seen the first film. It's as if you took that same character where things ended in the first film and then picked it up eight years later - he's just in a much darker, existential place."