While Johnny Blaze only has himself to blame for selling his soul and becoming the antihero Ghost Rider, it is Spider-Man who is to blame for the continuation of the hellish curse in Marvel Comics. Spider-Man and Ghost Rider have teamed up on a number of occasions as Spidey’s corner of the world has a lot of criminals in need of a good soul-burning. However, when Spider-Man offers Blaze a piece of superheroing advice, he convinces Ghost Rider to remain a hero when he has the chance to put his violent life behind him, making Spidey responsible for his ongoing curse.
Johnny Blaze first became Ghost Rider in Marvel Spotlight #5 by Gary Friedrich and Mike Ploog. In the issue, Johnny sold his soul to Mephisto to save the life of his adopted father Crash Simpson. From that day forth, Johnny’s soul was bonded to the Spirit of Vengeance and was equally as tied to Mephisto and Hell itself. Years later, however, Johnny found himself in a position where he was free from the evil that ruled his life for so long and was on the road to going back to previous life–until Spider-Man intervened.
In Amazing Spider-Man/Ghost Rider: Motorstorm by Rob Williams and Lee Garbett, Ghost Rider is sitting at a bar celebrating when Spider-Man walks in and joins him. Johnny Blaze tells Spider-Man that he is finally free of his dark masters, though he still carries with him the curse of Ghost Rider. Blaze continues by describing his intentions of ridding himself of the Spirit of Vengeance for good and returning to his normal life, and even if he couldn’t get rid of Ghost Rider, he would be done satiating the demon’s violent thirst for vengeance regardless. After their conversation, Spider-Man and Ghost Rider team up to battle some demonic threats, after which Ghost Rider asks Spider-Man if he would give up his powers if given the chance. Spider-Man tells him that he wouldn’t because of all the good he can do and people he can save with them, a sentiment that convinces Johnny Blaze to continue tangling with the forces of Hell and remain Ghost Rider.
Fast forward a few years after this conversation and Johnny Blaze finds himself not only back in the grip of Hell, but as the dark dimension’s ruler. After Doctor Strange imprisons Mephisto on Earth, Strange elects Ghost Rider to take over as the King of Hell, a position he isn’t free of until King In Black: Ghost Rider #1. During his final days of being the ruler of hell, fans witness Blaze’s slow decline into madness and evil to the point where his closest friends and allies have to join forces to take him down.
If it wasn’t for Spider-Man, Johnny Blaze would have given up being Ghost Rider long before being cast down into perdition and be on the verge of losing himself to the evil of Hell forever. Plus, in Ghost Rider’s latest comic series, he is being tormented by a horde of demons who are pretending to be his friends and loved ones to keep him contained and under their control. Basically, Johnny Blaze could have saved himself a lot of pain if he had just gone with his first instinct instead and gave up the life of a hellish vigilante instead of listening to Spider-Man who, after convincing him to remain a hero, is to blame for Ghost Rider’s curse.