Well, this is a surprise. Ghost Rider is coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but not for a movie — and perhaps not the incarnation of the Ghost Rider you were expecting.
Actually, it’s not that much of a surprise. Rumours about Ghost Rider heading to SHIELD kicked off about a month ago, when wild speculation — which, full disclosure, at the time I completely dismissed as a load of nonsense, so turns out I’m pretty dumb — about Ghost Rider’s arrival on SHIELD was linked to a fiery chain displayed on the side of SHIELD-themed San Diego trams for Comic-Con. A couple of weeks later, they were solidified with a casting call sourced by TV Line that was looking for actors to play Latino brothers, one of whom was paralysed.
That description pretty much summed up Robbie Reyes, the version of Ghost Rider introduced in All-New Ghost Rider in 2014 — not the traditional version of the character, Johnny Blaze, AKA the version that Nicolas Cage has played in multiple Ghost Rider movies.
In the comics, Reyes was killed by mysterious gunmen in the wake of entering an illegal street race to win money for his disabled brother Gabe, only to be possessed by a ghost and reborn as the latest Ghost Rider. And now, for the first time, he’s leaving the pages of comics and heading to live-action.
Revealed at the very end today’s SHIELD panel, Ghost Rider is indeed coming to the show. Marvel has now clarified that Gabriel Luna (Matador, True Detective) will play Robbie Reyes in the fourth season of the show, who will “will roar into the lives of Agent Coulson and the team”.
This fall, Ghost Rider will ignite on Marvel’s #AgentsofSHIELD. ⛓? pic.twitter.com/GvwchWJ9uE
— Agents of SHIELD (@AgentsofSHIELD) July 22, 2016
Agents of SHIELD is set to return for its fourth season later this year.