'Ghost Rider' Sequel the Big Thing at Comic-Con

 Comic-Con is an event that serves as a showcase to all things nerd. The San Diego convention is host to exciting announcements for movies, video games, and of course, comic books. Last year's Comic-Con premiered the Harrison Ford film "Cowboys and Aliens."

This year is set to unleash an early screening of the animated "Batman: Year One," guest appearances by comic book writers Joss Whedon and Grant Morrison, and video game showcases of "X-Men: Destiny" and "Street Fighter X Tekken."

There are plenty of other expected announcements, but what I'm most looking forward to is Nicolas Cage showing off his new "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance" movie. While the first "Ghost Rider" did quite well financially, it was reviled by critics and fans alike.

I thought it was a lot of cheesy fun with the typical Nicolas Cage charisma, but I'm definitely looking forward to seeing a darker, more serious sequel. That's the buzz for the movie so far; Sony and Columbia have taken the negative feedback into consideration to make a grittier, albeit cheaper sequel.

This was much the same case for "Punisher: War Zone" a few years back. It was the cheaper, darker sequel to the Thomas Jane film that received a collective "meh" from critics and fans. "War Zone," while still not a critical darling by any means, appealed to fans much more by sticking very closely to its source material.

I'm hoping to see "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance" go for the same trick. And while Cage has had a spotty record of box office showings for some time now, it would be nice to see him once again take on a role he loves and fill it with the gusto only he can provide.

"Spirit of Vengeance" may be an odd choice for the most exciting pick out of this year's Comic-Con, but I'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised by it. It has the best chance to surprise people, since we've already seen so much of the other big super comic book movies coming to Comic-Con.