Ghost Rider

The “pod” approach to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4 has kept any one story from sagging, but we’re hard-pressed not to feel the absence of Gabriel Luna’s Ghost Rider. Well, ABC dug into the budget for one last ride, as a cryptic new tweet confirms that Robbie Reyes and his flaming skull will back before we know it.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe had its Big Bang in 2008, with Iron Man and Robert Downey Jr.’s debut as the incorrigible Tony Stark. In casting a charismatic leading man, feeding him some genuinely fresh one-liners, and stitching them together with a few impressive action setpieces, producer and MCU mastermind Kevin Feige had struck gold. He then went to work methodically stripping the mine clean, roping Chrises Evans and Hemsworth into multi-film contracts and watching as the billions rolled in. He devised a winning formula of easy screen-idol mass appeal and an eminently palatable house visual style to go along with it, a method still yielding massive success to this day. (Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Thor 3, and Spider-Man Who Even Knows What Number, coming to theaters in 2017!) And it all began with R.D.J. as an irresistible new breed of defender, the sort of guy you either want to be or be with. One year earlier, Marvel’s idea of a blockbuster superhero was Nicolas Cage as a flaming CGI skeleton clad in S&M biker gear.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has literally dropped the Ghost Rider from Season 4 to focus on its LMD arc, but even if Gabriel Luna’s Robbie Reyes returns, it’s worth wondering what became of the other figure we met, suspected to be Johnny Blaze. Sadly, producers clarify we won’t be seeing him again, as the Rider only takes one host at a time.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. made a noteworthy gamble in Season 4, to swing a little darker by adapting a new Ghost Rider for live-action. That said, midwinter finale “The Laws of Inferno Dynamics” put a pin in the Rider to bring us a new “LMD” arc, something executive producer Jeffrey Bell admits was partly out of “financial considerations.”

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. briefly filled the gap from winter finale to 2017 return with a full Slingshot miniseries, but new word suggests Life Model Decoys will fully take over for Ghost Rider next year. Our first synopsis teases not only May’s kidnapping, but also the return of our Inhuman-hating Watchdogs.

Marvel’s ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ puts Season 4 back into sleep mode with midwinter finale “The Laws of Inferno Dynamics,” but is a big change for Daisy and a Patriot-ic showdown with Eli enough to keep things moving? And did we really need another evil May? Find out in our full review of tonight’s latest ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’!

Marvel’s ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ kicks back into Season 4 making some Ghostly “Deals With Our Devils,” but is the Rider’s new host a much better choice than Robbie Reyes? And was that some ‘Strange’ magic we spied Aida conjuring? Find out in our full review of tonight’s latest ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’!

Generally whenever superhero series bring in other established heroes for a season, it’s to test the water for a spinoff. We’ve seen it with Flash from Arrow, Punisher from Daredevil, and potentially now Ghost Rider from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as well. Star Gabriel Luna is certainly up for the possibility, explaining there are “deals in place,” should the need arise.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. surprised every Ghost Rider fan with the reveal behind Robbie Reyes first taking on the mantle of Vengeance, including a surprise cameo that went mysteriously unnamed. Now, stars Clark Gregg and Reyes himself, Gabriel Luna tip their hands toward the Johnny Blaze Ghost Rider indeed having sped through “The Good Samaritan.”

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. definitely got Ghost Rider fans hot and bothered with news that the Spirit of Vengeance would blaze through Season 4, albeit as the more modern, four-wheeling Robbie Reyes version. Tonight’s “The Good Samaritan” revealed Reyes’ MCU origin, however, with a surprising cameo from one of the Rider’s previous hosts!