[SPOILERS for those not caught up on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ahead.]
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Prior to his introduction on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the character of Ghost Rider only had two feature films to his name. In both, Nicolas Cage took on the role of original Ghost Rider host Johnny Blaze, but Marvel and ABC threw fans for a loop when they cast Gabriel Luna as Robbie Reyes, the All-New Ghost Rider. Since then, the actor has spent the last eight episodes of season 4 getting fans excited to see the Spirit of Vengeance come to life once again.
Reyes has proven popular on the series, so much so that some fans have suggested he’d be a good fit for his own ABC or Netflix series. With no spinoff yet announced, however, Robbie’s fate has been left up in the air – but the actor playing him isn’t worried.
Following the midseason finale, EW spoke with Luna regarding the fate of Robbie and the Ghost Rider, after the latter was seen disappearing into a dimensional rift along with Robbie’s uncle Eli. It’s a precarious position for the character to be in, but Luna isn’t sweating his chances of making a comeback.
“At Comic-Con, I had been asked that question a lot, considering the response has been what it has been. I’m very proud of my crew, the cast, all of us, for helping build this character because they seem to really love it. I’m not too worried about it being finite at this point… my car is still parked on the cargo bay on the Zephyr, so I have to come back for that. I’m not going to leave her in the hands of these jokers.”
Luna’s joke about his car aside, it does appear as though his story on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has come to a close. The first eight episodes were almost entirely focused on his character, who supplanted the Inhumans storyline from season 3. Another hint that Robbie and Ghost Rider will remain missing for the foreseeable future is that the second half of season 4 is called Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: LMD (or Life-Model Decoy).
If Robbie’s time on S.H.I.E.L.D. really has come to an end, then it will be interesting to see what, if anything, Marvel has planned for him and Ghost Rider. One obvious choice would be to bring the character back for more episodes later in the season. But then there is the possibility of the aforementioned solo series, which would work well either on the same network, as an extension of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., or on Netflix, where the lack of broadcast standards (and, presumably, a higher budget) might allow the Spirit of Vengeance to venture into darker territory.
Luna has confirmed that talks for Reyes to get his own series have begun, so it seems the powers that be are as onboard with this new Ghost Rider as most fans are. Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that Marvel recently launched a new Ghost Rider comic series as well, so all signs point to the company moving full steam ahead with the character.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 4 continues on Tuesday, January 10, 2017 on ABC.
Source: EW