- —Tagline
Ghost Rider VS Spawn is the 193rd episode of Death Battle, featuring the Ghost Rider from Marvel Comics and Spawn from the Spawn series in a battle between demonic comic book anti-heroes. Ghost Rider was reprised by Steven Kelly and Spawn was voiced by Ray Hurd.
Interlude[]
A fiery streak flies above the dark cloaked figure of Spawn perched on a rooftop, who looks behind to see the Ghost Rider sliding into position on his Hell Cycle. The two face each other in the rain, which pauses and grays out as Ringmaster shouts...
The screen then statics into playing the Death Battle intro.
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Wiz & Boomstick by Brandon Yates  
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Boomstick: Ghost Rider versus Spawn!
Wiz: The Spirit of Vengeance versus the Dark Angel of Armageddon.
We cut to Wiz and Boomstick.
Boomstick: He's Wiz and I'm Boomstick.
Wiz: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find out who would win... a Death Battle.
Ghost Rider[]
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Lonesome Street by Mark Alberts 
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Wiz: Johnny Blaze has always been a man possessed, chasing the thrill of certain doom by performing death-defying stunts, following the example of his adopted father, Crash Simpson.
Boomstick: Until the day Crash lived up to his name and... got cancer. Heartbroken and without enough Wumpa Fruit to save him, Johnny turned to the only thing that could cure Crash's cancer: chemotherapy—
Wiz: (talking over Boomstick) The Devil.
Boomstick: ...Oh.
Wiz: To cure Crash's cancer, Johnny sold his soul to Mephisto, king of the eighth layer of Hell.
Boomstick: Only for Crash to actually live up to his name right after.
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Call Of The Wild by Thomas O'Brien
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Wiz: But instead of scooping up Johnny's soul, Mephisto had something else in mind; he bound Johnny to an instrument of divine wrath: Zarathos, the Spirit of Vengeance.
Boomstick: So, Johnny Blaze lived up to his name and burst into hellfire! An undead skeleton biker with a sick-ass hog, the fifth scariest Nick Cage performance, the stunt man from Hell, he called himself... the "Daredevil"!
Wiz: Sorry, Johnny. That name's taken.
Boomstick: Okay, how about.... the "Ghoooost~ Rider"?
Wiz: "Sure, we definitely didn't forget that we named a character the same thing only five years earlier. All you."
Boomstick: The Ghost Rider was bad news for Earth's sinners and scumbags. He's strong enough to pull down skyscrapers, blow up mountains, and cause earthquakes that can be felt across whole countries.
Wiz: Don't even think about fighting back. He can remake his whole body from the hellfire that engulfs him, making him immune to all physical damage. Only holy weapons that target his soul can harm him.
Boomstick: It's not just his body; his whole arsenal is hellfire! Ghosty can create anything he can think of, from an infinite stream of chains, a shotgun packed with fiery rounds, or a flaming missile barfed right out of his mouth! Ahhh... life goals.
Wiz: And he can imbue other objects with hellfire, such as his Hell Cycle.
Boomstick: Hoh-ho-ho! This badass bike can outpace Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, which can cross the universe in seconds.
Wiz: Hellfire is a weapon in and of itself, whether shot out of his hands, raining down from the sky, or released from his...
A clip of Ghost Rider urinating hellfire from Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance plays on-screen as Wiz finishes, derailing his train of thought.
Wiz: Uhhhh...
Boomstick: His "bone-r", Wiz! Get it?
A rimshot and canned laughter are heard as Sans appears on-screen playing a sad trombone.
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Grueling Journey by Trae John Titus
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Boomstick: And it doesn't just scorch flesh. Hellfire is so deadly, it can burn away your very soul!
Wiz: This technique would be mastered by Johnny's successor: his own brother, Danny Ketch.
Boomstick: Oh yeah. Johnny's not the only Ghost Rider, and Danny was the first to master their most famous move. You know, the one that burns your soul to smithereens with just a look?! The Penance Stare!
Wiz: The Penance Stare inflicts upon its victims every ounce of pain they ever wreaked upon others. Every cruelty, no matter how small or righteous, is reflected back — a BIBLICAL punishment.
Boomstick: Obliterating your soul! It even works on other Ghost Riders, like when Johnny and Danny got into a staring contest and Danny actually depowered Johnny.
Wiz: Eyes are windows to the soul, so the Ghost Rider must be able to match his victim's gaze for the Penance Stare to work. Some people have survived it, like the Punisher supposedly because he didn't regret his actions, but it did work on him on other occasions.
Boomstick: Well, Johnny can adjust how deadly it is and it doesn't necessarily have to kill you. He can use the stare to read minds, force you to confess info, or just show you the error of your ways.
Wiz: Remember, the Ghost Rider is two souls in one body, with the kinder Johnny battling the demon Zarathos in a war of control.
Boomstick: Ah, classic Faustian bargain. All the power in the world, but if you want it, it uses you. Because if Johnny gives in, the demon's full might will take over, and then everything is screwed.
Wiz: Zarathos' strength is boundless; he can open up portals between dimensions, control the elements, Penance Stare an entire city, and fly all the way to Asgard, which is a literal infinite distance away.
Boomstick: He's manhandled some of Marvel's heaviest hitters. Like Thor, World War Hulk, and Doctor Strange. Hell, Strange said Zarathos is a threat to ALL realms! Mortal and immortal!
Wiz: Hyperbole? Think again. The archangel Zadkiel said that the power of the Ghost Rider could threaten all of existence, and even bring down Heaven itself.
Boomstick: Right before an army of Ghost Riders did just that. Yeah, an army. The Spirits of Vengeance are legion.
Wiz: As far back as the Great Flood, humans have been bonded to the vestiges of God's power to act as his divine wrath on Earth. A sort of heavenly black ops.
Boomstick: Okay wait, does that make Zarathos an angel now? Or, is he still a demon?
Wiz: Both? Neither? Despite being one of the greatest entities in existence, it's unclear. What we do know is that ages ago, Zarathos feasted on souls and battled Mephisto for rulership of his realm. Mephisto, ever the trickster, claimed victory and gained control of Zarathos forevermore. Hence how he could bond him to Johnny.
Boomstick: But Zarathos got his revenge against that big red bitch with another Ghost Rider: Alejandra Jones. Bet you wish you had one more day to fix that hole in your chest, huh?
Wiz: Comic book fan punching bag he may be, Mephisto is unbelievably powerful. A battle with him could cause omniversal Armageddon. Fitting as his fight with Galactus wrent the cosmos asunder.
Boomstick: And Galactus' fights can destroy all of Marvel's infinite multiverse. That's the kind of awesome power at Zarathos' disposal. Total. Cosmic. Annihilation.
Wiz: So it was no surprise when Johnny went down to the underworld and took Hell's throne for himself, usurping the devil that ruined his life and finally grabbing destiny by the handlebars.
Boomstick: Scoring the total power of Hell itself, plus a sick ass upgrade: the Damnation Stare, which skips the whole "every pain you've ever inflicted" and just sends you straight to hell. No shot.
Wiz: As they say though, "Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown". Johnny began an obsessive crusade to capture all of Hell's escaped demons. But by using his new power to damn them to Hell, he began absorbing their evil, feeding off of it, and it corrupted him. Once again, Johnny Blaze was a man possessed.
Boomstick: In truth, Johnny was just as trapped by Hell's power as he'd always been, and he needed Danny's help to pull him out of the darkness.
Wiz: Though he gave up Hell's throne, the Ghost Rider continues his war against demons without and within; mentoring his fellow Ghost Riders in the way of vengeance. Always prowling the highways for the evil and the profane.
Boomstick: An unstoppable engine of judgement that, with just a glance, could make Galactus himself shit his pants.
Wiz: Maybe one day he'll find salvation in the eyes of one of his victims.
Boomstick: 'Cause they sure as hell won't find any in his.
Spawn[]
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Boomstick: If Al Simmons was one thing, he was a killer.
Wiz: A lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army and the CIA's most decorated assassin, Simmons upheld democracy around the globe at the barrel of a gun, painting the third world in red, white, and blue. But mostly, red.
Boomstick: Until his final fateful mission when, per his boss' orders, Al... was fired.
Wiz: The burning was only getting started, because Al's immortal soul was on a one-way trip to Hell.
Boomstick: Where he cut a deal with Malebolgia, the big, naked lord of the eighth circle of Hell.
Wiz: By their pact, Simmons would be reborn a Hellspawn, a superpowered commander of Hell's armies, in exchange for seeing his wife one more time.
Boomstick: Oh-ho-ho, buddy, you're just asking to get Monkey's Paw'd.
Wiz: Al Simmons returned from the dead... as a decaying zombie five years later. After his wife had... already remarried, and had a daughter.
'Boomstick: "There. You 'saw her. Now get back to work, bitch!"
Wiz: Thus was born the undead warrior from Hell itself: Spawn.
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Boomstick: He's so '90s that he comes all the way back around to being the coolest thing ever! Look upon his edge, Wizard! And despair!
Wiz: Spawn would violently defend New York's downtrodden while slowly uncovering the full breadth of his demonic powers.
Boomstick: He's like a walking superpower encyclopedia; he can fly, teleport, turn invisible and intangible, move things with his mind, make force fields, control the elements and the weather, and even stop time. Speaking of time, he can fly so fast, he literally breaks into other dimensions and smashes time as a concept!
Wiz: He can manipulate matter, shapeshifting his own body or transmuting other objects and people. He can even control and absorb your soul.
Boomstick: Wait, Wiz, if he can rearrange molecules and crap, why doesn't he just fix his uggo face?
Wiz: Well, he tried to do that, but Malebolgia's cursed him so that he could only make himself...
The panel of Al looking on in horror at his transformation into a white man from Spawn #2 appears on-screen.
Wiz: Uhhhh... yeah.
Boomstick: Oh, it's petty trolling like that that gets you a throne in Hell!
Wiz: To be fair, Spawn can achieve a similar result with illusions and mental manipulation. He can read and control minds, implant and replace memories, or simply drive you mad.
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Emergence Trailer by Laurent Lombard
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Boomstick: Spawn can do all of this crazy shit because he runs on necroplasm — basically, Hell juice.
Wiz: You're not wrong; necroplasm is the energy that makes up Hell itself. Al's undead body is composed of 400 pounds of it.
Boomstick: He can wield it like an energy blaster empowered by the sins of others. Spawn can absorb your evil and feed off of it. By simply walking on Earth, Spawn feels all of humanity's pain all at once!
Wiz: He's even absorbed the sins of eight million New Yorkers instantly, cleansing them of their evil.
Boomstick: Like Jesus?!
Wiz: Or he can do the reverse and make you experience the full weight of your own sins, feeling every bit of pain you've ever inflicted on others over your whole life.
Boomstick: Like... some sort of... penance...
Wiz: Though Spawn's necroplasm comes with a catch.
Boomstick: Yeah, he's got a limited amount of the stuff, and it drains every time he uses his powers. If he runs out, he's dragged back to Hell.
Wiz: Even depowered, Spawn can rely on his elite military training in hand-to-hand combat. He's even fought Batman to a standstill.
Boomstick: And as befits his past profession, he loves his big ass '90s guns.
Wiz: Though his greatest weapon is the sentient being he is genetically and spiritually bonded to: his cloak; Leetha of the Seventh House of K.
Boomstick: You ever wonder why his cape's red? No? Well, now you are, and it's red 'cause it's made from the apple Eve ate in the Garden of Eden. It’s literally made of original sin. Oh, and also the souls of a million sinners, including every one of Al's victims, also a touch of vampire for good measure!
Wiz: K7-Leetha is constantly evolving; it can act independently to defend Spawn with an infinite stream of chains, transform into weapons, or drain people of their power. It is the most potent weapon Hell has ever created.
Boomstick: It even helped Spawn beat the primordial dark god Urizen, who can destroy and eat your soul with just a glare!
Wiz: Except the souls bonded to Spawn acted as a buffer, allowing him to survive.
Boomstick: You'd think with an arsenal like that he'd be unstoppable, but Hellspawns have a weakness to holy weapons and can be killed permanently if decapitated by one.
Wiz: Though Spawn has managed to survive this in the past. Now, Spawn's greatest weakness is his own... eh, how do I put this? Stupidity.
Boomstick: So, Spawn fought this angel lady, Angela. Great name for an angel. She had this dimensional lance that could wipe a Hellspawn out of existence, and Spawn got it. But instead of, you know, being cautious around a mysterious angel weapon that hurts him, he just had to push the big shiny button and activate it on himself.
Wiz: And so, Spawn was forever destroyed... until he reconfigured reality to undo his own inexistence.
Boomstick: There we are, good as new! That has to be the first time we've seen someone accidentally kill themselves and survive!
Wiz: On his quest as Hell's greatest warrior, Spawn has defeated a serial killer ice cream man, a demonic clown, and even his old boss remade by Heaven into an Anti-Spawn. He's even encountered other Hellspawn!
Boomstick: Killing bad guys might seem counter-intuitive if you work for a Hell lord, but it actually just adds more souls to Malebolgia's army; an army Spawn would have to lead in a war with Heaven that would kill all of humanity.
Wiz: Because the reason Malebolgia chose Al to be his commander wasn't that he was some great warrior. It was because Al had proven that he was the best at taking orders.
Boomstick: All his life, and all his death, Al was nothing more than a hired gun.
Wiz: But he knew it, and he would do so no more.
Boomstick: So, Spawn marched down to Hell and ripped Malebolgia's fuckin' head off! With a scream so loud, it echoed through all of reality! Spawn became the king of the eighth circle of Hell![Note 1]
Wiz: As king, Spawn is literally a part of Hell itself, gaining access to an unlimited pool of energy that increases a hundredfold with every heartbeat. He's effectively omnipotent in there, and strong enough to challenge other Hell lords like Mammon and Satan.
Boomstick: He got so strong, the only thing left was to finally resolve the war between Heaven and Hell.
Wiz: But Spawn needed help from the being who created this God and Satan to begin with. The mother of existence: Gaia.
Boomstick: She wasn't cool with her kids being total assholes, so she appointed Spawn to be the universe's savior.
Wiz: By eating the fruit from the Tree of Life, Spawn became truly divine, capable of battling God and Satan in a stalemate for eternity that extinguished all life on Earth.
Boomstick: And each of them are powerful enough to create and control infinitely sized universes!
Wiz: Spawn broke the stalemate by letting God and Satan destroy him, only for Gaia to separate the two from the reality they threatened.
Boomstick: Then, just like that time with the lance, Spawn re-spawned and recreated the Earth. Poof, good as new!
Wiz: Finally freed of the weight of Heaven and Hell, Al asked to be reborn as a human. But he knew in his heart he deserved to carry on his undead penance in perpetuity.
Boomstick: He's a creature of the '90s, Wiz. He won't be happy unless he can angstily brood over the injustice over his own existence.
Wiz: Though if you threaten the alley he calls home, beware. Because Spawn will turn whatever's left of your life into a living hell.
Prelude[]
Wiz: Alright, the combatants are set. We've run the data through all possibilities.
Boomstick: IT'S TIME FOR ONE HELL OF A DEATH BATTLEEE!!!
Death Battle[]
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Hell's Angels by Brandon Yates (Feat. Tyson Yen)
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The scene opens to a darkened city, a thunderstorm brewing in the air, with rain falling, a skyscraping chapel is in the middle of the scene, and perched atop it is Spawn. Spawn feels a sense of unease, knowing a unknown threat is approaching. Looking out to the city, he thinks about what is to come.
Spawn: Nights like these drive men insane. Brimstone in the air... something’s coming. If it wants a piece of me, there'll be hell to pay...
A trail of flames shoots up the building, Spawn noticing it as it flies above him and lands on the roof behind him. The flaming figure atop a flaming bike of the same caliber is none other than Ghost Rider, come to wreak upon his soul. He screeches to a halt, facing up towards Spawn.
Ghost Rider: Go back to the pit you squirmed from, Hellspawn.
A flash of lightning illuminates Spawn's face as he leaps down from his perch and lands in front of the Rider, undeterred by his comments. His Necroplasm meter shows up in the top-left corner of the screen.
Spawn: Make me...
Ghost Rider charges his bike towards Spawn, a trail of flames following. Spawn quickly pulls out two submachine guns and starts unloading ammunition upon Ghost Rider. Some bullets strike him, but undeterred, but he still continues, hitting Spawn with his bike, disarming the hellspawn before driving him off the edge of the building, breaking through Spawn's earlier perch. As he drives down the side, Spawn's chains wrap around Ghost Rider. This causes a explosion, destroying the bike and Ghost Rider's body, plus freeing Spawn from his vulnerable position. He watches Ghost Rider reform his body up higher than him.
Ghost Rider: If you care, it's nothing personal. Vengeance calls.
Spawn's chains rush towards the flaming skeleton, but he pulls out a shotgun and blasts them away, but Spawn uses this opening to disarm him, blasting a wave of Necroplasm at Ghost Rider, who recovers and counters with a wave of Hellfire. The beam clash ends in a explosion, gathering smoke and obscuring Ghost Rider's view. Spawn leaps above and attempts to hit in with his Agony Axe, but Johnny dodges. The two clash blows, and it is apparent Al's superior combat experience is giving him the upper hand.
Spawn: Sloppy. You fight like a bum.
But Ghost Rider manages to surround him in chains, immobilizing Spawn. He walks up to him before the latter recieves a Damnation Stare.
Ghost Rider: You've earned your damnation.
As Spawn's skin burns, his Necroplasm depletes, bringing it back down to zero. He screams in pain as he is dragged back into hell by a portal. Screams are heard from a unknown source as the portal closes, bringing the screen to black. Spawn has been defeated, his Necroplasm depleted...
...But his Necroplasm meter flashes onscreen once more, showing infinite value, revealing he is still clearly in fighting shape.
A portal from Hell forms in the ground in front of the building, and coming out of it is none other than Spawn's now-giant hand as it appears out of the portal in front of the building to grab Ghost Rider and drag him around with some surrounding objects, into Hell. Spawn grips Ghost Rider as they fall into the pits below.
Spawn: Welcome to Hell, motherfucker.[Note 2]
In response, Ghost Rider bursts into flames to push Spawn away as he is sent flying into a truck, which was dragged along into Hell with him, infusing it with hellfire before taking full control of it to charge at his opponent. However, Spawn stops time just before the Hell Truck can ram into him. He then fills the Hell Truck with necroplasm, causing it to explode and sending him crashing onto the ground down below. As he gets up, Spawn notices his foe's skull falling right in from of him and turning red as its flames go from orange to blue.
Spawn: I'll be damned.
Reforming Ghost Rider's body in a larger size, Zarathos assumes control from Johnny as he towers over Spawn menacingly. Spawn can only look up at the beast standing before him.
Zarathos: YES... YOU WILL.
Zarathos shoots out three streams of chains engulfed in whitish-blue flames at Spawn who evades them. He jumps back, dodging the first three streams but getting immediately ensared by a fourth.
Zarathos: GET OVER HERE!
Being pulled towards Zarathos, Spawn is engulfed in hellfire as Zarathos slams him against the walls of Hell's terrain twice before spinning him around rapidly and tossing him away. As Spawn skids across the ground, Zarathos unleashes a massive blast of blue flames from his mouth that strike Spawn who barely blocks the attack with his cloak and nearly incinerate him completely. That is until a flash of golden light erupts from Spawn just as he gets completely overpowered by the hellfire, forcing Zarathos to shield his face briefly and look up at the source of the light: Spawn unfurling two sets of large angelic wings, entering his Divine form as he is surrounded by the Kingdom of Heaven.
Zarathos: THE VESTMENTS OF THE HOLY CANNOT DISGUISE YOUR WICKEDNESS!
Zarathos readies himself as he and Spawn stand separated between the realms of both of Hell and Heaven, respectively.
Spawn: God forbid.
Zarathos and Divine Spawn then proceed to clash, with both demonic and divine backgrounds following suit, each strike from both sides warping reality and sending them from Heaven to Hell and vice-versa. In the chaos, Spawn punches Zarathos high up and tries to follow up, but ends getting dropkicked by Zarathos back down, Spawn recovers and rises back up into the air and fires a beam of holy light down at Zarathos, disintegrating most of his body until he fires hellfire chains out of his mouth at Spawn, binding him and ripping off his wings, Necroplasm coming from where it once was. Screaming in pain as a result, Spawn gets pulled closer to Zarathos, who regenerates his body and gets ready to give Spawn a penance, uttering a familiar phrase as Hell takes over the background. He forces Spawn to look into his eyes, as he performs his signature move, causing Spawn's own eyes to glow blue.
Zarathos: AL SIMMONS! YOUR SINS ARE INNUMERABLE!! I AM HERE TO WREAK VENGEANCE UPON YOUR SOOOOOUUUUL!!!
However, As Zarathos uses his stare, his head gets wrapped in chains as his eye sockets start glowing green, revealing that the Penance Stare was useless against his opponent. Spawn, now with his angel wings regenerated, then grabs his foe's head and puts it right in front of his face as Heaven regains control of the background before giving him a declaration.
Spawn: I eat sin for breakfast. Have a taste of your own goddamn medicine.
The camera cuts to and zooms in on a whimpering Zarathos' face, entering his mind as Spawn uses his own version of the Penance Stare on him. As he starts to suffer from the effects of his own attack, Zarathos get a vision of one of his Penance Stare victims and hears his final words.
Emmael: He lies! He is the prince of lies! Wait! I'm innocent!
More visions of Zarathos' numerous Penance Stare victims then flash by in rapid succession, their painful screams being emitted before the camera exits his mind, showing he is left helplessly screaming in agony himself as all the pain he inflicted is coming back to him.
Zarathos: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
With Zarathos left suffering eternal punishment as Heaven fully surrounds them and overtakes Hell, Spawn takes the winning opportunity to rip him out of Johnny's soul. Spawn only shakes his head as he drops the now-lifeless Johnny through the rift back to Hell, his body burning to cinders as it enters and crashes back onto the ground.
Spawn: It's like you said, nothing personal, asshole.
Al then imbues Zarathos' skull with necroplasm before crushing it to destroy the Spirit of Vengence for good, leaving holy light glistening over the divine Spawn.
Results[]
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Hell's Angels by Brandon Yates (Feat. Tyson Yen)
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Boomstick: God... DAMN!
Wiz: Literally! This was a nail-biter of a battle that pitted Ghost Rider's immeasurable power against Spawn's skill and versatility. Let's break this down into four categories.
Boomstick: First up: power. Divine Spawn could match God and Satan, who could create universes, similar in scale to Ghost Rider's bouts with a lot of the powerhouses in Marvel.
Wiz: But Zarathos was different. Remember, his power can match that of Mephisto and Galactus, who can threaten all of Marvel's infinite cosmic reality, far greater than any cosmos Spawn has ever affected. Even though Spawn's battled and defeated Satan in more recent comics, implying he's retained a level of power similar to his Divine form, he couldn't match Zarathos in power alone.
Boomstick: Ghost Rider may take power, but remember: Johnny actively resists Zarathos' influence, so Spawn may have had time in the fight to learn and adapt to Ghost Rider before he went full blue fury.
Wiz: And Spawn definitely had the edge in skill. He spent decades in military combat and is a master martial artist, whereas Johnny moreso relies on his invincibility.
Boomstick: The ultimate dream power for a stuntman. Even with his crazy powers, Ghost Rider was a lot more direct than Spawn; pretty much entirely focused on attacking the soul.
Wiz: Which doesn't bode well for his versatility. Spawn can stop time, manipulate matter, turn intangible, control minds, warp reality... the Ghost Rider had a much more limited arsenal by comparison. Spawn had a huge advantage in this category.
Boomstick: Though with his invincibility, way greater power, and the ability to scorch your soul to nothing, Ghost Rider could score the win through brute force, right?
Wiz: Not exactly. The last piece of the puzzle is their resistances, basically who was harder to kill.
Wiz: Spawn's constant mainlining of humanity's collective sin and pain meant he could survive attacks on his soul, including the Penance Stare, just like he resisted a very similar attack from Urizen.
Boomstick: Best of all, remember the time he rewrote reality to undo his own inexistence?
Wiz: There was nothing the Ghost Rider could do to overpower that, and that time with the Lance wasn't planned; it was purely instinctual. He could replicate it any time he wanted, like in his fight with God and Satan.
Boomstick: So how do you put Spawn down for good?... Well, you can't. At least Johnny and Zarathos couldn't.
Wiz: Unlike how Ghost Rider's soul HAS been vulnerable to attack before, like when Danny used the Penance Stare to depower Johnny.
Boomstick: This sort of thing actually happens a lot, even in recent comics. The WHOLE REASON Johnny and Zarathos are bonded in the first place is because Zarathos' soul was MANIPULATED by Mephisto.
Wiz: And not only does Spawn have plenty of experience manipulating souls, he can replicate the effect of the Penance Stare itself!
Boomstick: And, just think about that: a Penance Stare on Zarathos would mean he's feeling the pain from every Penance Stare HE'S ever done! A penance squared!
Wiz: The Damnation Stare on the other hand actively helped Spawn; sending him to Hell where he gets a literal infinite power boost.
Boomstick: And it wasn't just Spawn's soul powers that had spelled trouble; he had other ways to bypass Ghost Rider's immortality too, like transmutation, rewriting reality, or just straight up stealing his powers, which has worked on multiple Ghost Riders in the past.
Wiz: Giving Spawn the final edge. Zarathos was almost unbeatable; a massive power advantage, soul destruction, immortality, but Spawn could counter EVERYTHING thrown at him, and was too unkillable for Zarathos' strength advantage to matter in the long run against his crazier abilities.
Boomstick: That was one Hell of a fight, and at least Johnny went out in a Blaze of Glory.
We cut to the "Winner" card.
Wiz: The winner is Spawn.
Comparison[]
Ghost Rider[]
- + Far stronger
- = Matching speed
- - Incapable of killing Spawn
- - Less versatile
- - Vulnerable to being separated from Zarathos
Spawn[]
- + More versatile
- + Can regenerate from anything Rider does
- + Multiple ways to bypass Rider's immortality
- = Matching speed
- - Far weaker
Original Track[]
Composition[]
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The track for this fight is "Hell's Angels" by Brandon Yates featuring Tyson Yen. It is a heavy metal-synth vocal track whose lyrics reflect the anti-heroic nature of both combatants and their relations with Hell, with the style of the track itself also being befitting of Ghost Rider's biker motif. Angelic-sounding choir is also utilized throughout the track, more notably in the second half of the track, reflecting on the combatants' connections with the divine.
Title[]
The title references both combatants' hellish origins and their angelic forms (Zarathos, who is a fallen angel, and Divine Spawn, respectively). It also more generally refers to how both combatants are heroes despite their demonic nature. It also possibly references the Hells Angels biker gang, befitting Ghost Rider's motorcyclist background.
Cover Art[]
The cover art by John Mitchell depicts a black skull with Spawn's white facial markings on it set on fire in true Ghost Rider fashion, with the turquoise-green flames resembling necroplasm leaking out of the eye sockets. Surrounding the skull are black chains in the background and bullets in the foreground, the latter of which references Spawn's military background and both combatants' tendency to utilize firearms.
Lyrics[]
Screaming out from the maw of Hell |
Trivia[]
Production[]
- The core connections between Ghost Rider and Spawn are that they are demonic, undead, black-clad comic book anti-heroes. Initially normal humans, both were confronted with a bad situation that led them to make a deal that involved selling their souls to powerful demon lords that rule over their series' respective versions of Hell (Mephisto and Malebolgia, respectively) for the sake of their family (Johnny asked Mephisto to cure his adoptive father of cancer, while a then recently-killed Al accepted Malebolgia's deal to lead his armies in return for resurrection to reunite with his wife again), only for said deal to not turn out how they expected (Johnny's father died soon later anyways in a stunt accident, while Al was reborn five years after his previous death, with his wife married to another man and raising a newborn daughter), leaving them with no choice but to become reluctant servants to their demon lords while attempting to use their new powers for the greater good. In addition:
- Both are immortal to a nigh-unkillable degree, use chains and specific firearms as their primary weapons, are only vulnerable against holy weapons, and make use of a hellish substance that feeds off their enemies' sins (Hellfire and Necroplasm, respectively).
- Both can subject people to experiencing every amount of pain they've inflicted throughout their entire lives (via the Penance Stare and Necroplasm, respectively).
- Both eventually rebelled against and overthrew their masters, temporarily taking the title of King of Hell as a result.
- Both their resurrections and powers are due in part to unions with other entities (Johnny was fused with Zarathos and Al wears the symbiotic Leetha of the 7th House of K).
- Both are parts of long legacies, as there are others in the past and future who have possessed the title Ghost Rider and Spawn.
- Coincidentally, Spawn's first opponent reappeared in the previous episode, Kratos VS Asura.
- This is the 50th episode to feature a character from Marvel Comics.
- Ironically, the 25th episode to feature a character from Marvel Comics was also one featuring Ghost Rider.
- This episode was revealed prior to its teaser in Kratos VS Asura during MAGFest 2025.
- After the episode's announcement, Spawn creator Todd McFarlane was asked who he thinks wins the matchup in an interview, to which he responded that Spawn would easily win.[1]
- This makes it the ninth episode to be officially acknowledged by one of the combatants' creators or series, after Beast VS Goliath, Dante VS Bayonetta, Amy Rose VS Ramona Flowers, Scrooge McDuck VS Shovel Knight, Danny Phantom VS American Dragon Jake Long, Saitama VS Popeye, Omni-Man VS Homelander, and Among Us VS Fall Guys.
- Spawn's analysis preview was originally titled "Spawn has EVERY power there is???", though it was later changed to "Spawn is WAY too strong! Even for... Ghost Rider?"
- It was later changed again to "Spawn is WAY too strong! But not for... Ghost Rider?"
- Shortly after the YouTube release, Boomstick's line in Spawn's analysis, "So Spawn marched down to Hell and ripped Malebolgia's fuckin' head off!" and Spawn's "Welcome to Hell, motherfucker," line in the fight both had the curses edited out in order to lift the age-restriction that had been placed on the video.
- The original, uncut version can be found here.
- Tyson Yen posted a breakdown of the vocals for Hell's Angels on his personal YouTube channel after the episode's release.
Easter Eggs[]
- One of the thumbnails used for Spawn's analysis preview references Satoru Gojo's infamous "Nah, I'd win" line that he stated before his final fight with Sukuna, which became a popular meme.
- In Ghost Rider's analysis, Boomstick states that Johnny didn't have "enough Wumpa Fruit to save [Crash]", a call-back to when he inadvertently referred to the latter character as Crash Bandicoot in Johnny's previous episode.
- When Boomstick first namedrops the alias of Ghost Rider in his analysis, Casper the Friendly Ghost, Slimer, and Beetlejuice appear among the ghosts floating around the Ghost Rider's name.
- After bringing up how Mephisto was beaten by Zarathos and Alejandra Jones in Ghost Rider's analysis, Boomstick sarcastically asks the former "Bet you wish you had one more day to fix that hole in your chest, huh?", referencing the infamous and negatively received "One More Day" storyline, where Spider-Man sold his marriage with Mary Jane Watson to Mephisto to save Aunt May's life.
- Footage of Ghost Rider performing the Dougie in Fortnite (otherwise the Everybody Loves Me emote) and Spawn running out of a helicopter in Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 with Alucard plays as the first clips in the Prelude.
- These clips had been suggested on Twitter, a post of which the editor Djmah'di Rivers promptly responded to and requested the clips to throw in.[2]
- Ghost Rider performs the famous Akira motorcycle slide on the Hell Cycle as he arrives to confront Spawn.
- This is the second episode to have its fight homage the scene, after Link VS Cloud (2021).
- Spawn leaping from the chapel's cross to confront Ghost Rider is a one-to-one recreation of one of his four match intros from Mortal Kombat 11, complete with the lightning strike illuminating him from behind before he jumps down.
- This intro was also used for Spawn's "Winner" card.
- Ghost Rider spinning his shotgun to rechamber it references a similar action performed by the Terminator in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
- Spawn telling Ghost Rider "Welcome to Hell, motherfucker." is a reference to Mr. Simms' same line from the Tales from the Hood series, specifically its iteration from Tales from the Hood 2, where Simms was played by Keith David, who has voiced Spawn in several media. This was later censored.
- The latter clip itself also appears during the post-analysis.
- Ghost Rider imbuing a truck with hellfire and using it to attack Spawn is a reference to the truck driving scene from the critically panned Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.
- Sans' head (which is taken straight from his Mii Costume for the Mii Gunner in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate) can be seen as an ornament hanging on the rear-view mirror of the truck.
- Notably, Sans' eyes react to Spawn's time stop, with his left eye turning into a ring while his right eye disappears, referencing his iconic glowing eye and likely how the head for the Mii Costume contains an unused texture for it.
- The shot as a whole is strongly similar to the video game Rad Mobile.
- Sans' head (which is taken straight from his Mii Costume for the Mii Gunner in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate) can be seen as an ornament hanging on the rear-view mirror of the truck.
- Zarathos shouting "GET OVER HERE!" while pulling Spawn towards him using his chain is a reference to Scorpion's (a character heavily inspired by Ghost Rider) iconic line whenever he pulls people in with his kunai.
- This is likely another nod to Spawn's guest appearance in Mortal Kombat 11.
- The ending of the fight is a direct recreation of the ending of Ghost Rider VS Lobo, right down to Zarathos spewing chains from his mouth to ensare Spawn with after losing the rest of his body, reforming his body while he pulls Spawn toward him, and telling Spawn that "his sins are innumerable" and that he is "here to wreak vengence upon [his] soul" as he grabs him by the face and subjects him to the Penance Stare. Unlike Lobo, however, Spawn is able to resist the attack and turn it back on Zarathos to clinch victory instead.
- The first penance stare victim who Zarathos experiences the pain of, Emmael, has his last words from Ghost Rider Vol. 6 #18 recited almost verbatim during the sequence.
- Spawn calling his opponent an asshole while simultaneously crushing Zarathos' Spirit in his hand is similar to the ending of Cole MacGrath vs Alex Mercer.
- Boomstick's ending pun for this episode, "That was one Hell of a fight," is near identical to his pun in Spawn's previous episode, albeit with an additional pun that references the Bon Jovi song "Blaze of Glory", which was previously mentioned in Ghost Rider's analysis cutaway from his previous episode.
Errors[]
- The first popup in Ghost Rider's analysis is missing a period at the end of its second sentence.
- When Spawn's massive arm reaches out to grab Ghost Rider and drag him to Hell, some of the damage to the clock tower briefly disappears.
- Spawn's arm gauntlet is missing during the close-up pixel shot of him grabbing Zarathos' skull after restraining it with chains.
- For the combatants' advantages in the post-analysis' four categories of focus, Resistances appears in the 3rd slot of focus, but is swapped up with Versatility in every category reveal shot afterward once Spawn is given the point in Skill.
Other[]
- This is the 18th Anti-Heroes-themed episode, after Kratos VS Spawn, Vegeta VS Shadow, Ragna VS Sol Badguy, Wolverine VS Raiden, Dante VS Bayonetta, Mewtwo VS Shadow, Wario VS King Dedede, Ghost Rider VS Lobo, Sasuke VS Hiei, Deadpool VS Mask, Winter Soldier VS Red Hood, Venom VS Crona, Hulk VS Broly, Shadow VS Ryuko, Guts VS Dimitri, Omni-Man VS Bardock, and Kratos VS Asura, and with the next one being Hulk VS Godzilla.
- This is the 21st Marvel VS non-DC-themed episode, after Thor VS Raiden, Beast VS Goliath, Darth Vader VS Doctor Doom, Wolverine VS Raiden, Deadpool VS Pinkie Pie, Android 18 VS Captain Marvel, Shredder VS Silver Samurai, Carnage VS Lucy, Ultron VS Sigma, Black Widow VS Widowmaker, Deadpool VS Mask, Genos VS War Machine, Venom VS Crona, Hulk VS Broly, Iron Fist VS Po, Korra VS Storm, Thor VS Vegeta, Magneto VS Tetsuo, Stitch VS Rocket Raccoon, and Galactus VS Unicron, and with the next one being Hulk VS Godzilla.
- This is the 11th time the non-DC character wins, after Beast VS Goliath, Wolverine VS Raiden, Android 18 VS Captain Marvel, Shredder VS Silver Samurai, Carnage VS Lucy, Deadpool VS Mask, Venom VS Crona, Hulk VS Broly, Iron Fist VS Po, and Stitch VS Rocket Raccoon.
- This is the seventh non-Marvel-VS-DC Comic Book-themed episode, after Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Battle Royale, Shredder VS Silver Samurai, Deadpool VS Mask, Flash VS Sonic, The Seven Battle Royale, and Omni-Man VS Homelander.
- This is the 37th episode to feature a returning combatant, after Zitz VS Leonardo, Batman VS Captain America, Boba Fett VS Samus Aran (2015), Goku VS Superman 2, Pokémon VS Digimon, Mewtwo VS Shadow, Deadpool VS Pinkie Pie, Metal Sonic VS Zero, Thor VS Wonder Woman, Black Panther VS Batman, Ryu VS Jin, Mario VS Sonic (2018), Mega Man Battle Royale, Captain Marvel VS Shazam, Dragonzord VS Mechagodzilla, Ganondorf VS Dracula, Deadpool VS Mask, Leonardo VS Red Ranger Jason, She-Ra VS Wonder Woman, Venom VS Crona, Hulk VS Broly, Shadow VS Ryuko, Lex Luthor VS Doctor Doom, Link VS Cloud (2021), Batman VS Iron Man, Akuma VS Shao Kahn, Thor VS Vegeta, Boba Fett VS Predator, Excalibur VS Raiden, Darth Vader VS Obito Uchiha, Phoenix VS Raven, Guts VS Dimitri, Goku VS Superman (2023), Bowser VS Eggman, and Kratos VS Asura, and with the next four being Master Chief VS Doom Slayer, Aang VS Traveler, Ash VS Yugi, and Hulk VS Godzilla.
- This is the 24th episode to feature a returning winner, after Zitz VS Leonardo, Boba Fett VS Samus Aran (2015), Goku VS Superman 2, Deadpool VS Pinkie Pie, Metal Sonic VS Zero, Thor VS Wonder Woman, Black Panther VS Batman, Mario VS Sonic (2018), Ganondorf VS Dracula, Leonardo VS Red Ranger Jason, She-Ra VS Wonder Woman, Venom VS Crona, Lex Luthor VS Doctor Doom, Link VS Cloud (2021), Batman VS Iron Man, Akuma VS Shao Kahn, Thor VS Vegeta, Excalibur VS Raiden, Phoenix VS Raven, Guts VS Dimitri, Goku VS Superman (2023), and Omni-Man VS Bardock, and with the next three being Master Chief VS Doom Slayer, Aang VS Traveler, and Hulk VS Godzilla.
- This is the 12th time a returning winner wins, after Zitz VS Leonardo, Boba Fett VS Samus Aran (2015), Goku VS Superman 2, She-Ra VS Wonder Woman, Lex Luthor VS Doctor Doom, Batman VS Iron Man, Akuma VS Shao Kahn, Thor VS Vegeta, Phoenix VS Raven, Goku VS Superman (2023), and Omni-Man VS Bardock.
- This is the 14th time a returning winner loses, after Metal Sonic VS Zero, Thor VS Wonder Woman, Black Panther VS Batman, Mario VS Sonic (2018), Ganondorf VS Dracula, Leonardo VS Red Ranger Jason, Venom VS Crona, Link VS Cloud (2021), Batman VS Iron Man, Akuma VS Shao Kahn, Thor VS Vegeta, Excalibur VS Raiden, and Guts VS Dimitri, and with the next one being Master Chief VS Doom Slayer.
- This is the 13th episode to feature two returning combatants, after Boba Fett VS Samus Aran (2015), Goku VS Superman 2, Thor VS Wonder Woman, Mario VS Sonic (2018), Leonardo VS Red Ranger Jason, Lex Luthor VS Doctor Doom, Link VS Cloud (2021), Batman VS Iron Man, Akuma VS Shao Kahn, Thor VS Vegeta, Goku VS Superman (2023), and Bowser VS Eggman, and with the next two being Master Chief VS Doom Slayer and Hulk VS Godzilla.
- This is the fourth episode to feature two returning winners, after Batman VS Iron Man, Akuma VS Shao Kahn, and Thor VS Vegeta.
- This episode marks the sixth time two episodes featuring returning combatants have been released consecutively (following Kratos VS Asura), after Lex Luthor VS Doctor Doom (following Shadow VS Ryuko), Batman VS Iron Man (following Link VS Cloud (2021)), Excalibur VS Raiden (following Boba Fett VS Predator), Phoenix VS Raven (following Darth Vader VS Obito Uchiha), and Guts VS Dimitri (following Phoenix VS Raven).
- This is the 24th episode to feature a returning winner, after Zitz VS Leonardo, Boba Fett VS Samus Aran (2015), Goku VS Superman 2, Deadpool VS Pinkie Pie, Metal Sonic VS Zero, Thor VS Wonder Woman, Black Panther VS Batman, Mario VS Sonic (2018), Ganondorf VS Dracula, Leonardo VS Red Ranger Jason, She-Ra VS Wonder Woman, Venom VS Crona, Lex Luthor VS Doctor Doom, Link VS Cloud (2021), Batman VS Iron Man, Akuma VS Shao Kahn, Thor VS Vegeta, Excalibur VS Raiden, Phoenix VS Raven, Guts VS Dimitri, Goku VS Superman (2023), and Omni-Man VS Bardock, and with the next three being Master Chief VS Doom Slayer, Aang VS Traveler, and Hulk VS Godzilla.
- This is the fifth episode whose sneak peek on the DEATH BATTLE Cast was a trailer instead of a clip of the start of the fight, after Goku VS Superman (2023), Galactus VS Unicron, Bowser VS Eggman, and Kratos VS Asura.
- This is the 29th episode where Boomstick yells a variation of his pre-fight catchphrase (via saying "IT'S TIME FOR ONE HELL OF A DEATH BATTLEEE!!!"), after Akuma VS Shang Tsung, Rogue VS Wonder Woman, Felicia VS Taokaka, Eggman VS Wily, Terminator VS RoboCop, Pokémon Battle Royale, Fulgore VS Sektor, Tigerzord VS Gundam Epyon, Boba Fett VS Samus Aran (2015), Guts VS Nightmare, Solid Snake VS Sam Fisher, Hercule Satan VS Dan Hibiki, Bowser VS Ganon, Joker VS Sweet Tooth, Meta VS Carolina, Mega Man Battle Royale, Dragonzord VS Mechagodzilla, Scarlet Witch VS Zatanna, James Bond VS John Wick, Trunks VS Silver, SpongeBob VS Aquaman, Jason Voorhees VS Michael Myers, Sauron VS Lich King, Gogeta VS Vegito, Phoenix VS Raven, Scooby-Doo VS Courage the Cowardly Dog, Galactus VS Unicron, and Kratos VS Asura.
- This is the eighth episode to get age-restricted, after Zoro VS Erza, Sub-Zero VS Glacius, Carnage VS Lucy, Goro VS Machamp, Jason Voorhees VS Michael Myers, Iron Man VS Lex Luthor, and Shadow VS Ryuko.
- This is the third episode to have its age restriction lifted, after Goro VS Machamp and Zoro VS Erza.