"Ghost Rider" at the 2005 Comic Con: Writer/director Mark Steven Johnson and actress Eva Mendes were greeted by enthusiastic applause as they took the stage to answer fans questions at the annual San Diego event.
In addition, Johnson and Mendes sat down with a small group of journalists (myself included) to provide the following in-depth look at the upcoming "Ghost Rider" movie:

Eva Mendes on her character ?Roxanne:?
?I play Johnny Blaze?s love of his life and a reporter.

And when you see me in the movie, when I come into the movie, it?s been years since I?ve seen him. I haven?t gotten over him. How can you get over, you know, Johnny Blaze, or Nic Cage I should say??

Director Mark Steven Johnson adds, ?We set it up [with] the deal the devil?s made when Johnny?s a young boy and the two of them split up because he has to leave her behind, because he can?t risk getting her in danger. They meet up again, years later in life.?

Mendes shares her opinion on the original 70s Roxanne character: ?I actually felt she was this very hot voluptuous blonde that was a little ?victimey? for my tastes. You know what I mean? She cried a lot. What I want to thank Mark for is taking a chance and not sticking to [that], just thinking outside the box. Because obviously, I?m not blonde, and I don't look like the original comic book Roxanne.?

Mendes on how Roxanne changes from the comics to the screen: ?Well, now she?s darker (laughing), a little more exotic. And just stronger, you know what I mean?

Just really, really crazy in love with this man and willing to stand behind him and beside him through thick and thin, but still having a life of her own, being an independent woman ? being a career woman. And just this inner strength, not being a victim.?

Mark Steven Johnson on Roxanne being the only thing that keeps Ghost Rider out of Hell: ?No, no, that didn?t work for me, personally. I thought that was always bizarre, the fact that Johnny makes a deal with the devil and suddenly Roxie breaks out some spell. She?s like, ?Yes, I?ve been studying up on the occult.? This sweet little girl and she?s got the candles and the pentagram and the blood. And you?re like, ?Jesus, where?d that come from?? It seemed a little odd.?

Johnson on his favorite ?Ghost Rider? comics phase: Asked if the ?Ghost Rider? of the 90s will be included in the film, Johnson said, ?You bet. Yeah, the cool thing is that you get the best of both worlds, you know what I mean? Like I really loved the original, but I also loved some of the stuff from the Danny Ketch 90?s versions. Especially like - I liked Caretaker. And I think they had better villains than we did. Some of the stories are actually, I think, really excellent, too. Especially the ones with Scarecrow and stuff, the Marvel Scarecrow ? they were great.

What?s nice is that you get to cherry-pick?the best from both. It kind of actually gives you less pressure that it?s not out now. I know they?re gonna bring it back. But there?s no, you know, like Frank Miller around, that you have to beholden to or anything like that, which is nice. It freed me up a little bit.?

Johnson on bringing ?Ghost Rider? to the big screen: ?The biggest thing was cracking? I think the reason it took a while to get the movie made, well, there?s two reasons. One was just because of the effects. You literally couldn?t make the movie a couple of years ago. We?re doing new stuff now, fluid sim, everything for the fire that?s going to look amazing. So that?s a new thing.

The second thing was always the actual story ? the deal with the devil - that was, I think, problematic for people. They kept trying to change it. I think that?s why eventually the 70?s ?Ghost Rider? run went away. They tried to bring it back and simplify it, I think, too much. It went from that really convoluted ?deal with the devil? story in the first one to a magic motorcycle in a graveyard. You touch it and you turn into Ghost Rider. It went the other way.

So it was kind of a challenge [to] keep what we loved about the comic but also to find a way to hopefully strengthen it. The hard part of the comic was always that the devil gave Johnny all these amazing powers, he goes out and fights bad guys. It was like, ?When did that happen?? It never really quite added up. And they tried to explain it but it never really worked and it got more and more convoluted.

We just made it real simple: there?s heaven, there?s hell, and there?s our world. Every once in a while something gets out of hell and is not supposed to be here and that?s when you call upon the Ghost Rider. He works for the devil as bounty hunter. So there?s always been a Ghost Rider is the idea. He used to be on horseback back in the day and now it?s a motorcycle rider. The concept was just like you?d find the best rider, and you make him go and track down these demons for you.?

PAGE 2:The Costumes, the Devil, and Peter Fonda