Way back in November of last year, we brought you the first spy pictures and video from the Romanian set of Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. The film, directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (Crank, Crank 2) and starring Nicolas Cage, Ciarán Hinds, Idris Elba and Johnny Whitworth made quite an impression on some people at Comic-Con in San Diego this past weekend.

Empire Magazine attended the Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance panel and filed the following report, including words from Cage himself and a description of the footage they saw:

Cage addressed the crowd in Hall H and said,

“This film goes in a whole other direction. For one, Johnny has been living with having his head light on fire for several years,” said Cage, with an impressively straight face. “It’s certainly affected his mood. He’s more sarcastic this time, more edgy, ironic. As for playing the Rider on this go-round, it gave me the chance to play with movement and create a being from another dimension.”

Empire went on to describe what they saw:

“The sizzle reel shown to the Hall H crowd showed Mr. Flamey Skull unleashing merry hell, spinning a baddie high up into the air on the end of a spectral chain, swallowing a hail of machine-gun fire and then spitting it back at some burly unfortunates, and, in one memorable shot, literally pissing fire.”

CBM recently got a hold of some scans from the current issue of Empire Magazine, containing some images of Nicolas Cage and Idris Elba from the film.

Synopsis:

It has been several years since making a deal with the Devil and Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage), living in self-imposed isolation, finds himself as the only person who can help save 10-year-old Danny – and ultimately the world – thanks to his unwanted and uncontrollable power – his ability to transform into the hell-on-wheels monster known as The Ghost Rider.

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is slated to hit theaters on February 17th, 2012.