Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Ghost Rider: Final Vengeance #5! Despite an absurd amount of fan speculation surrounding a number of different projects (including WandaVision and Spider-Man: No Way Home), Mephisto has yet to officially enter the MCU. However, as Marvel Studios takes more of an interest in expanding its supernatural side (Agatha All Along, Werewolf By Night, Blade), Mephisto’s eventual inclusion is all but assured. And now, Marvel Comics has finally come up with a terrifying design that Mephisto’s inevitable live-action depiction should adapt.
In Ghost Rider: Final Vengeance #5 by Benjamin Percy and Danny Kim, Johnny Blaze and his Night Magician ally, Zeb, are heading to Chicago to stop the Hood, who made a deal with Mephisto to become the all-new Ghost Rider. As Ghost Rider, the Hood has become Chicago’s top crime lord, as he has complete control over the city’s underworld. At least, for now, as Blaze and Zeb are hellbent on taking him down – if they aren’t killed by Mephisto first, that is.
On their journey to Chicago, Blaze and Zeb are being followed by the metaphysical form of Mephisto, as he’s currently trapped in hell. Therefore, the only way for Mephisto to interact with them physically is through an avatar – or avatars. Just as Blaze and Zeb approach the city, Mephisto possesses a large horde of rats simultaneously, merging the squirming, chittering vermin into a giant body resembling Mephisto’s actual appearance.
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Mephisto Taking Physical Form with Pests & Vermin is Better than an Actor Portrayal
Right now, the MCU has every chance to reject a more basic approach to bringing Marvel’s resident devil to the big screen in lieu of this truly haunting, utterly unsettling idea. While Mephisto can still be played by an actor when he’s shown in his own hellish realm, the idea that he can only interact with people on Earth by taking physical form through pests and vermin is the perfect way to depict this character, who is quite literally the living embodiment of evil.
The very nature of his presence would bring pestilence and horror, which would more effectively convey Mephisto’s incomprehensibly sinister nature than a simple ‘red devil’ design. A commitment to this design would also ensure that Mephisto’s presence in the MCU would be reserved for more mature content, as seeing a creature like this would be a bit too upsetting for younger audiences. That way, the character would carry a more serious and horrifying weight to him, eliminating the possibility of a ‘cartoon devil’ aesthetic.
Mephisto’s ‘Vermin Form’ May Be Permanent in Marvel Comics (for 1 Reason)
King in Black: Ghost Rider #1 by Ed Brisson and Juan Frigeri
Mephisto only took his ‘vermin form’ because his actual body is in hell. While Mephisto threatens to open up the gates of hell to deal with Blaze and Zeb himself, he doesn’t, leading one to consider that the threat was a bluff. In King in Black: Ghost Rider #1, Mephisto is reinstated as the King of Hell, relieving Johnny Blaze of that duty. Perhaps when he retook his position, he became a prisoner of his own realm. If that’s the case, then Mephisto can only interact with people metaphysically, or through avatars such as this, making his ‘vermin form’ effectively permanent.
While it remains to be seen if Mephisto is stuck possessing rats anytime he wants to interact with people on Earth in Marvel Comics, the main takeaway from the debut of this horrifying appearance is its live-action potential. Squealing, squirming rats clawing and biting each other as they’re forced to take the form of the literal devil is a haunting image, especially if brought to film in a more mature, supernatural corner of the MCU, allowing Mephisto to shine on the big screen with this truly terrifying design.
Ghost Rider: Final Vengeance #5 by Marvel Comics is available now.
