In Cosmic Ghost Rider Destroys Marvel History, Cosmic Ghost Rider travels back in time, altering and destroying the past at nearly every turn.
Marvel history can be confusing at times, but Cosmic Ghost Rider made it far more complicated. Created by Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw in 2017’s Thanos #13, Cosmic Ghost Rider is a future version of Frank Castle who made a deal with the devil Mephisto to become empowered by the Spirit of Vengeance and who was then given the Power Cosmic by Galactus. Eventually, he went on to serve Thanos, dying in the process.
After Castle goes to Valhalla, Odin resurrects him, sending him back in time to a point of his choosing. Frank goes deep into the past and changes numerous events in Marvel history, even visiting his family to try and prevent their deaths. This sets the stage for Cosmic Ghost Rider Destroys Marvel History written by Paul Scheer and Nick Giovannetti with art by Nathan Stockman. As the title suggests, Castle interferes with major events in Marvel’s continuity.
While Frank Castle is normally depicted as a grim killer, Cosmic Ghost Rider is almost a comic relief character. This version of Castle has a whimsical oafish nihilism and stubborn brashness that seems more in keeping with Deadpool’s personality. He makes insane decisions like going back in time to adopt baby Thanos in the original Cosmic Ghost Rider miniseries, hoping to raise Thanos to not become a mass murderer. This plan fails horribly, so Castle goes back in time again to return baby Thanos, and becomes stuck in the past.
In the first issue, he crashes his magic motorcycle into Uatu the Watcher while flying through space. Somersaulting through the vacuum, he attaches himself to the nearest object, the rocket containing the Fantastic Four on the day they get their powers. He returns to Earth with the newly empowered foursome, only now, the team is known as the Fantastic Five. He helps them take down Mole Man and his Moloids on their first mission, but after Castle kills numerous Moloids, he is kicked off the team for being a murderer. Later, Castle is once again flying through space when he intercepts Galactus en route to Earth. Castle redirects the Devourer of Worlds to eat the Skrull Throneworld instead, then serves as Reed Richards’ trial lawyer when Reed is held accountable for Galactus’s destruction.