History ComicBook / CosmicGhostRider

* ShoutOut: #1 opens with a recap of Frank's story seemingly modeled after the AdaptationDistillation opening of ComicBook/AllStarSuperman:

Spinning out of the 2018 ''ComicBook/{{Thanos}}'' series, the series follows a future version of Frank Castle who became the Rider, yet has also gone mad as a loon. Deciding to kill Thanos when he was a baby, when he realizes that the kid isn't evil yet, he decides to raise the kid himself, to, you know, not be a mass-murdering tyrant. HilarityEnsues.

The miniseries was followed by two others in 2019, ''Revenge of the Cosmic Ghost Rider'' and ''Cosmic Ghost Rider Destroys Marvel History''. A new ongoing series, ''ComicBook/{{Cosmic Ghost Rider|2023}}'', is scheduled to launch in 2023.

The miniseries was followed by two others in 2019 ''Revenge of the Cosmic Ghost Rider'' and ''Cosmic Ghost Rider Destroys Marvel History''. A new ongoing series, ''ComicBook/{{Cosmic Ghost Rider|2023}}'', is scheduled to launch in 2023.

Eventually got another miniseries in 2019 ''Revenge of the Cosmic Ghost Rider''.

EXPLODING FROM THE PAGES OF THANOS! Frank Castle was the Punisher. A deal with the devil made him Ghost Rider. A deal with Galactus made him cosmic. A deal with Thanos made him... DEAD?!? Not to worry, he's coming back, and he's got a plan to make the universe a better place that's going to lead him into an even CRAZIER adventure than he's ever been in! Join hot new comic (and cosmic?) writer Donny Cates (THANOS, DOCTOR STRANGE) as he pushes his wildest creation past the breaking point!

* BackFromTheDead: In ''Cosmic Ghost Rider'' #1, thanks to Odin, who basically kicks him out of Valhalla.
* BeenThereShapedHistory: His first series suggests he's part of a StableTimeLoop set up by Death to ensure Thanos becomes who he is. Then in his second series, ''Cosmic Ghost Rider Destroys the Marvel Universe'', it's shown that he's has become involved in multiple critical moments in superhero history, having taken the TheSlowPath. This has the unfortunate effect of making him incapable of doing what he really wants and averting the death of his family because then he'd be unraveling his now highly intertwined history in the Marvel Universe.
* ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike: Odin pulls him to Valhalla out of respect for him as a warrior when the Surfer kills him. Castle is pissed that he gets a peaceful afterlife when his family didn’t and calls Odin out on this.

* DealWithTheDevil: [[spoiler: He gives up his own soul to become a Ghost Rider once more to get Cammi's back.]]

* BeenThereShapedHistory: His first series suggests he's part of a StableTimeLoop set up by Death to ensure Thanos becomes who he is. Then in his second series, ''Cosmic Ghost Rider Destroys the Marvel Universe'', it's shown that he's done ''a lot'' more time traveling and has become involved in multiple critical moments in superhero history. This has the unfortunate effect of making him incapable of doing what he really wants and averting the death of his family because then he'd be unraveling his now highly intertwined history in the Marvel Universe.

EXPLODING FROM THE PAGES OF THANOS! Frank Castle was the Punisher. A deal with the devil made him Ghost Rider. A deal with Galactus made him cosmic. A deal with Thanos made him… DEAD?!? Not to worry, he's coming back, and he's got a plan to make the universe a better place that's going to lead him into an even CRAZIER adventure than he's ever been in! Join hot new comic (and cosmic?) writer Donny Cates (THANOS, DOCTOR STRANGE) as he pushes his wildest creation past the breaking point!

* DealWithTheDevil: [[spoiler: He gives up his own soul to become a Ghost Rider once more to get Cammi's back.]]

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* DealWithTheDevil: [[spoiler: he gives up his own soul to become a Ghost Rider once more to get Cammi's back.]]

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* DealWithTheDevil: [[spoiler: he gives up his own soul to become a Ghost Rider once more to get Cammi's back]].

EXPLODING FROM THE PAGES OF THANOS! Frank Castle was the Punisher. A deal with the devil made him Ghost Rider. A deal with Galactus made him cosmic. A deal with Thanos made him…DEAD?!? Not to worry, he's coming back, and he's got a plan to make the universe a better place that's going to lead him into an even CRAZIER adventure than he's ever been in! Join hot new comic (and cosmic?) writer Donny Cates (THANOS, DOCTOR STRANGE) as he pushes his wildest creation past the breaking point!

Has a character-specific page [[Characters/MarvelComicsCosmicGhostRider here]].

Cosmic Ghost Rider is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. His physical appearance and origin are amalgam of Punisher and Ghost Rider. Cosmic Ghost Rider was created by Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw, in Thanos #13 (January 2018). He made his debut as Thanos' right-hand man in Thanos #13. His origin story was revealed in Thanos #16 by writer Donny Cates and artist Geoff Shaw.

Formerly ComicBook/ThePunisher of a universe where ComicBook/{{Thanos}} killed literally every other living being. Upon his death, he made a deal with ComicBook/{{Mephisto}}, becoming the [[ComicBook/GhostRider Spirit of Vengeance]], then received the Power Cosmic on top of that from ComicBook/{{Galactus}}, although he and Galactus were defeated by the Mad Titan. He then became the Black Hand of Thanos before being killed by the ComicBook/SilverSurfer. He was then 'escorted' out of Valhalla by [[Characters/TheMightyThorAsgardians Odin]] and sent back in time. It's a lot, we know.

* TheAtoner: Frank's made A LOT of mistakes from the time he made a deal with Mephisto onwards. So he gets Odin to send him back in time, so that he could fix his mistakes and find a measure of redemption (Death says that it's hopeless for him, but Frank just tells her off). However, after this, he admits to his younger self that he believes that they deserve punishment.
* AxCrazy: Both more and less so than usual - more, in that he's more obviously nuts, but less in that he's actually come to terms with who he is a lot better than present-day Frank and doesn't always want to just resort to killing. While Frank is not very sane in most universes, this one is completely off his freaking gourd as a result of first wandering the barren Earth as Ghost Rider for several centuries with no one to punish, acting as a Herald of Galactus for who knows how long, then spending millions of years with Thanos, who enjoyed his Penance Stare. Per ''Cosmic Ghost Rider'' #1, some of it is also down to the fact mortal minds - even those as skewed as Frank's - [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity aren't meant to handle those powers]]. Indeed, Frank refuses having the powers back when he decides to leave Valhalla... but Odin returns them to him regardless. He also notes later in the series that the longer he's in Hellfire mode, the odder he gets.

* {{BFG}}: Frank seemed to have rubbed off on ol' Galactus, because when they were a team, Galactus would wear a raggedy olive cape a la ComicBook/HopeSummers and wield a gun the size of a skyscraper.
* BreakoutCharacter: Of the 2016 ''Thanos'' series. He ended up getting two solo miniseries out of it and went on to temporarily join the Guardians of the Galaxy.
* ChainPain: This version of the Rider carries a chain made from the Crimson Bones of Cyttorak. It's so tough that not even Thanos can break out of them.
* CloudCuckooLander: Out of his mind and hilariously so, getting lampshaded comparisons to Deadpool. He is certainly by far the oddest version of Frank Castle you'll ever see.

* DealWithTheDevil: Actually made three of these. First it was Mephisto - a dying Frank gets to be the Spirit of Vengeance and has the power to kill Thanos in return for Frank sending evil people to Hell in mass quantities. Next he makes a deal with Galactus - become a Herald and gain the Power Cosmic in return for handing over the Earth. Finally he makes a deal with Thanos the Final King - he serves as Thanos's Black Hand and he'll have an opportunity to kill more evil-doers than Frank had ever imagined.
** He makes a fourth in a miniseries: [[spoiler: he gives up his own soul to become a Ghost Rider once more to get Cammi's back]].
* DeathIsCheap: In a short time since his debut, he's already died and come back twice. And that's not including his death as the Punisher, which started his new career.
* DidNotThinkThisThrough: Along with the aforementioned SanitySlippage, this Frank Castle's decision making skills have greatly suffered as a result of wielding two sets of powers mortals weren't meant to have (and being hundreds of millions of years old), which he's explicitly stated affect his mind - especially if he's in Ghost Rider mode for too long. This is demonstrated when he goes back in time to kill a baby Thanos but instead kidnaps him with the ultimate decision to raise him. He's called out by both Galactus and Uatu the Watcher who point out that a timeline where the Punisher raises Thanos is not a good one. This produces hilarious results as Frank faces the immediate consequences of his actions due to TimeTravel shenanigans.
* TheDragon: To King Thanos, although Thanos didn't really need him. Frank serves more as a recording of Thanos's greatest hits and a glorified butler.
* TheDreaded: The other Ghost Riders fear him for being the most powerful of them all... and for being totally insane.
* FailureHero: He's almost a poster boy for this because of his {{Cloudcuckoolander}} insanity, lack of judgement, bad luck and poor use of his powers. Johnny Blaze calls him out on this when he recruited Frank to do some wetwork for him and failed: "You're totally useless! The only thing you're good at is getting your family killed!" Frank then fails to hunt down Blaze after that cheapshot.
* FightsLikeANormal: He's a cosmic, supernatural powerhouse but he has an overwhelming tendency to default to shooting, stabbing and chain-smacking. Such as when Thanos was getting jumped by the Surfer's Annihilation Wave, and had to tell Frank to stop shooting them and do something hellish. Frank unloaded a hellfire storm that wiped the bugs out and mentioned he keeps forgetting he could do that. When he does get serious (usually when he's not using the Ghost Rider powers), he's much more effective.
* GadgeteerGenius: Downplayed. Frank is no genius and may even be dumber than the average person now, but all those eons of hanging around Galactus and Thanos seem to have taught him a few things about technology. In a fight against Captain Marvel, Frank was able to make a RayGun with parts that Iron Man left around, using only one hand.
* TheJuggernaut: Frank may have [[TookALevelInDumbass gotten stupider]] but if he's not up against an upper-echelon Thanos and above, he's practically unstoppable. As he mentions to baby Thanos, he's got cosmic hellfire powers, of course he can kill every alternate-universe superhero out to get him. And he does. He also easily slaughters an alternate version of Thanos who hadn't been empowered by Death or a Cosmic Cube. In an offscreen fight, he decapitates and carries off the head of Eli Morrow, who was possessing the body of a [[CosmicEntity Celestial]] at the time.
* TheKnightsWhoSaySquee: He reacts this way upon meeting Wraith, idolizing him for the exact same reasons that readers mocked the character back in Annihilation Conquest.
* KryptoniteFactor: Brute force doesn't work that well on him as Hulk and Thor found out, but Frank is vulnerable to some supernatural attacks especially if they affect the dead.
* IHatePastMe: Inverted. The Punisher hates Cosmic Ghost Rider and tried to kill him, once he found out that future Frank went back in time and failed to save their family. For his part, future Frank is merely disappointed at how miserable and misguided his past self was.
* LastOfTheirKind: He was the last living thing on Earth and after that he became the sole survivor of his timeline's universe.
* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: Pretty much the basic concept: an elderly Punisher as Ghost Rider wielding the Power Cosmic.
* OddFriendship: He considers Galactus one of his closest friends, is fond of the Phoenix Force and has friendly relations with Thanos the Final King (but not the 616 Thanos).
* PapaWolf: He was very protective of baby Thanos.
* PhysicalGod: Demonic powers from Mephisto plus the Power Cosmic from Galactus. It took a greatly aged Silver Surfer with the Annihilation Wave and Thor's hammer to kill him. He's so powerful that he can possess and animate the dead Celestial that's the Avengers's current base, then immediately after he fought and was winning against the Avengers which included powerhouses like Thor, Hulk (Jennifer Walters version) and Captain Marvel as well as Captain America and Black Panther who were both infused with Celestial power. When something does manage to hurt him, like Moondragon did when he was briefly on the Guardians of the Galaxy, he gets genuinely shocked and impressed.
* TheStoic: Averted; his days as the Punisher are long over and he's become very emotional (he's far more capable of expressing happiness and sorrow) after living so long and through so much.
* TimeAbyss: By the time we meet him he's spent millions of years with Thanos, and that's after his years as the Ghost Rider and as Galactus' Herald.
* TookALevelInKindness: A far cry from the glowering Punisher he previously was. All those millennia of being alone on a dead Earth have made him a MUCH friendlier person and a lot less contemptuous of superheroes.
* UnwittingPawn: Turns out to have ultimately been manipulated by Death to help make Thanos into the person he is.
* WorfEffect: He jobs a lot of fights, including against himself - there's a draw in fist fight against a pre-Punisher Frank Castle, and another draw against the Punisher. However, the first time, he was powered down and didn't want to fight, and the second time, the Punisher was ready for his future self (he had hellfire rounds in a submachine gun and a knife made of an adamantium-vibranium alloy) and even then, Frank was mostly just surprised and annoyed. That aside, though, if the events from his time travel adventures were even a little bit true, then he was captured by Moloids.

Formerly ComicBook/ThePunisher of a universe where ComicBook/{{Thanos}} killed literally every other living being. Upon his death, he made a deal with Mephisto, becoming the [[ComicBook/GhostRider Spirit of Vengeance]], then received the Power Cosmic on top of that from ComicBook/{{Galactus}}, although he and Galactus were defeated by the Mad Titan. He then became the Black Hand of Thanos before being killed by the ComicBook/SilverSurfer. He was then 'escorted' out of Valhalla by Odin and sent back in time. It's a lot, we know.

Formerly ComicBook/ThePunisher of a universe where ComicBook/{{Thanos}} killed literally every other living being. Upon his death, he made a deal with Mephisto, becoming the Spirit of Vengeance, then received the Power Cosmic on top of that from ComicBook/{{Galactus}}, although he and Galactus were defeated by the Mad Titan. He then became the Black Hand of Thanos before being killed by the ComicBook/SilverSurfer. He was then 'escorted' out of Valhalla by Odin and sent back in time. It's a lot, we know.