Reaper (TV) vs. Ghost Rider (Movie) ~ Houdini's Magic Movie Ticket
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Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Reaper (TV) vs. Ghost Rider (Movie)



The new CW show, "Reaper" has a few interesting places where it agrees and disagrees with the "my soul is in the Devil's pocket" storyline. I've enjoyed both, so an exploration will be fun.

In "Ghost Rider," the guy sells his soul to save his ailing father, who is soon killed anyway.

In "Reaper," the guy's parents had already sold his soul before he was even born.

In "Ghost Rider," the guy has powers that are effectively static and cumulative, meaning that they don't change or go away, and he can learn how to use them better and better every time he does the Devil's work.

In "Reaper," the guy's powers vary week to week, depending on what villain he's fighting. Every episode there's a new ability that he (so far) seems to have very little control over. It seems like he loses his old powers while gaining new ones, but that is unclear.

My hope is that "Reaper" will end up revealing the guy can have every power imaginable, like Peter Petrelli, and only pulls out whichever one is necessary at the time.

In "Ghost Rider," the guy uses his powers to send Demons back to Hell.

In "Reaper," the guy uses Devil Technology to send Demons back to Hell, and his powers seem to be an afterthought or random nuisance (so far).

In "Ghost Rider," the guy decides to keep his "curse" and use it to fight the Devil. But then again, the guy is basically the Devil's personal assistant, not just some Schmoe who lost his soul.

In "Reaper," the guy can't use his powers against Satan (just yet), or risk getting killed by his "employer."

In "Ghost Rider," the Devil endows the guy with the ability to survive pretty much any normal injury, and leaves the guy to his own devices for the most part.

In "Reaper," the guy is flesh and blood, physically vulnerable, and while the Devil doesn't torture him like he would a soul in Hell, he does take a few simple steps toward ruining the guy's life.

All in all, "Reaper" is definitely a unique take on the "I work for Lucifer now" idea, and has enough play in the storyline to keep it going for a long, long time. An eternity, even. In Hell!

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