Mark Steven Johnson's 2007 adaptation of Ghost Rider wasn't exactly a critical success, but it made enough cash that we're getting a sequel next year, Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance. Apprehensive? Don't be. This time the crazed minds behind Crank, Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, are at the helm. You've already seen Eric's live blog of the Hall H panel at Comic Con; now check out the extra details we got at the press conference, where Cage, Neveldine and Taylor were all on hand, along with co-stars Idris Elba and Johnny Whitworth. Nicolas Cage is so strange in person that you have to see him to believe it, and lucky for you, we've got video of the whole thing, along with brief red-carpet interviews with both Cage and Elba.

As you can see in the press conference video, Nicolas Cage is a weird quote machine. He delivers a few beauties about cobras, compasses (?) and the difference in portraying a live-dead man in Drive Angry and a live man possessed by a demon. I'd explain it better if I understood what the hell he was talking about. But it didn't matter because Cage did an epic job working the crowd.

Some memorable moments, aside from basically everything Cage said, included director Brian Taylor answering a phone call from his mom, Johnny Whitworth's shirt being more open than closed and Idris Elba's look of absolute confusion watching Cage spout his, well, Cagisms.

To be fair, the vision of the film as described by Neverldine/Taylor sounds pretty rad. The Rider will be rocking a black (flaming) skull with Cage actually getting to 'play' both characters this time instead of relying completely on a CGI Ghost Rider. Oh, and for these Ghost Rider scenes, Cage will show up in occult-ish makeup, with black contacts in his eyes to add to the performance. Taylor said that it genuinely freaked people out and that you can catch some of that on the DVD special features.

Enjoy the videos below. I dare you not to be absolutely engaged by Nic Cage. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance opens February 17, 2012.







For more special, instant coverage from San Diego, visit our dedicated Comic Con 2011 channel.