'Ghost Rider 2' Villain Blackout Isn't Based On His Comic Book Counterpart

Ghost Rider is blazing a trail back into theaters in 2012, and this time he's going to have a new foe to go up against. "Limitless" star Johnny Whitworth will be playing Blackout, a foil to Nicolas Cage's Ghost Rider who has some interesting demonic powers of his own. But don't expect Blackout to be especially similar to his incarnation in the "Ghost Rider" comic books.

MTV News caught up with "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance" directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor to chat about the upcoming movie, and they admitted that they took a few creative liberties with Blackout's character.

"We didn't really honestly do a lot of research into the comic book version of Blackout," Taylor admitted. "We kind of just took the visual of him and went from there."

But just because they didn't do a lot of research into the character's history doesn't mean he won't fit into their mythology. It won't appear in the film, but Taylor and Neveldine rationalized that Blackout and Ghost Rider were two sides to the same coin, and thus Blackout in some ways acts as an "antidote" to Ghost Rider's powers. That's why they were so excited to have someone as "completely nuts and insane and dangerous" as Whitworth playing him.

"The Devil kind of created the Ghost Rider, but he also created Blackout, so if the Ghost Rider is the result of a demon possessing someone, then Blackout probably is too," Taylor said. "He's just as powerful in his own way. We didn't really explore who that demon was or get into the backstory or the mythology of the villain but in our heads we looked at him as a foil to Ghost Rider."

Speaking of The Devil, Ciaran Hinds is also a new addition to the "Ghost Rider" franchise who will play the man in charge down there. Neveldine voiced his excitement about getting as respected an actor as Hinds involved in their movie.

"A guy like Ciaran Hinds, you think gravity, weight. He is intimidating when he walks on set. He's so powerful, he's incredible classically trained actor," Neveldine said. "His gravity is sort of what holds this thing in place, and that's sort of what is the balance of 'Ghost Rider.'"

Are you excited to see what Whitworth and Hinds bring to the movie? Tell us in the comments section below or on Twitter!