Warning! This article contains spoilers for Ghost Rider Annual 2023 #1 Ghost Rider is easily one of the most overpowered Marvel Comics characters to date, so it would make sense that one of his villains would be someone strong enough to have wielded the Infinity Stones in the past. While this villain-in-question isn’t an A-list character like Thanos or Santa Claus, he was still a worthy Infinity Stone wielder, just as he’s assuredly going to be a legitimate threat to even the seemingly untouchable Ghost Rider himself.
This Infinity Stone-worthy-villain is none other than Parker Robbins aka the Hood. The Hood is a master in the practices of mysticism and the occult, and he also usually wields pistols that can shoot bullets capable of hurting and even killing supernatural entities. However, he wouldn’t reach peak-power until he began his quest to collect every Infinity Stone. After Marvel Comics’ Siege event, the Hood acquired the Reality Stone upon learning it had been left unguarded on Earth following Black Bolt’s death. With this Stone, the Hood was able to single-handedly take on some other members of the Illuminati for the rest of them, including Iron Man, Reed Richards, and Charles Xavier. Ultimately, the Hood is defeated, and his plan foiled, though his threat level had firmly been proven. And now, the Hood is after yet another artifact of power, and this time, it’s up to Ghost Rider to stop him.
Ghost Rider Faces The Hood In All-New Preview
In a preview for Ghost Rider Annual 2023 #1 by Benjamin Percy and Danny Kim, the Hood is shown entering a bookstore in Salem, Massachusetts in search of one book in particular. The owner vehemently refuses to give the Hood this mysterious book, though that doesn’t stop the Hood from using his own horrific mysticism against him. While it is unknown at this time whether the Hood actually managed to get his hands on what he was after (or what exactly it is he’s after), what is clear is how dangerous it would be if he did. So dangerous, in fact, that legacy monster-hunter Elsa Bloodstone reached out to Johnny Blaze and his current partner Talia Warroad for help, meaning a showdown between the Hood and Ghost Rider is imminent.
As he proved with the Infinity Stones, the Hood is more than capable of wielding artifacts of power, so these antiheroes should be worried about him getting whatever he’s after. But more than that, the Hood is perhaps one of the few legitimate threats Ghost Rider has faced in some time. Even when battling otherworldly, hellish demons, Ghost Rider still makes quick work of them just as he would with pretty much any mortal villain he’d encounter. The Hood, however, presents a unique challenge for the Spirit of Vengeance: his pistols. The Hood has guns that work against supernatural entities specifically, which includes Ghost Rider. So, not only will he assuredly be powered-up by whatever this book turns out to be, but the Hood is also inherently a villain Ghost Rider does not want to tangle with – and that’s absolutely perfect.
Ghost Rider sorely lacks any villains who can put up a fight against him. Sure, there’s Mephisto, but it’s kind of lame when a hero is facing off against literally the devil himself. Ghost Rider needs a real adversary like every other hero/antihero in the Marvel Universe, one who can match his level of near god-tier power. Who better than someone who’s literally wielded the Infinity Stones? The Hood has already proven to be the perfect villain for Ghost Rider, and their upcoming conflict will assuredly prove it even further.
Ghost Rider Annual 2023 #1 by Marvel Comics is available October 4, 2023.
