During the San Diego Comic-Con International it was announced that Ghost Rider is joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe as part of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., although it won’t be Johnny Blaze or Danny Ketch, but rather Robbie Reyes, the All-New Ghost Rider. During an interview with Comic Book Resources, Marvel’s head of television Jeph Loeb and showrunners Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen have explained what they opted for the Robbie Reyes version of the Spirit of Vengeance.
“In its inception, S.H.I.E.L.D. has always been about finding the new, the weird, the unexplainable, and having gone through the last couple seasons and finding out about the Inhumans,” said Loeb. “The Marvel catalogue is filled with all kinds of really interesting, new and often weird things. And so we hit on Ghost Rider and… and in particular with the character of Robbie Reyes, because our show really at the end of the day hinges on the idea of family and how that works in the world. Robbie and his relationship with Gabe and his relationship with the Ghost Rider are all really interesting things for our S.H.I.E.L.D. folks to encounter, possibly even in negative ways.”
“We’re doing the Robbie Reyes of the character, who is a young Latino man from East LA. We were attracted to that because of that fact, just to see what he would be like in the dynamic of the show,” added Tancharoen. “Also, it’s Ghost Rider with the flaming car! It’s kind of awesome.”
SEE ALSO: Ghost Rider teaser for Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. released online
“Doctor Strange is coming out and, if you’re familiar with the comic, it’s sort of a different side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that’s going to be opened up, and we felt like it was the time to do this, because it plays in that world,” said Whedon. “It’s not exactly the spy world we live in. We feel like, with that entering the MCU, this is us sort of dipping our toe into that world as we open things up. And also it’s Ghost Rider, so it’s like there’s no real decision. They said, ‘Ghost Rider?’ ‘Yes, we will take it. Thank you.'”
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns for its fourth season on September 20th, in the new timeslot of 10pm ET.
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Originally published July 29, 2016. Updated November 30, 2022.
