Why "Agents of SHIELD" Chose Robbie Reyes As Its Ghost Rider

CBR

By Meagan Damore

Published Jul 28, 2016

Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, Jeph Loeb and more offer details about Ghost Rider, his family, and the way he'll roar onto the show.

At Comic-Con International in San Diego, Head of Marvel Television Jeph Loeb confirmed earlier rumors that Ghost Rider would appear on "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." Season 4. During a sit-down with the press, he and executive producers Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen went on to reveal a few more details about this Spirit of Vengeance, including his identity, why they chose the Robbie Reyes version of the character and more.

"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," Loeb shared. "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," Tancharoen revealed. "Also, it's Ghost Rider with the flaming car! It's kind of awesome."

"'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," Whedon added. "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.'"

"It might be safe to say that Daisy and possibly Ghost Rider's paths... you know," Tancharoen teased.

Elizabeth Henstridge, who plays Jemma Simmons, also fielded a question about how her science-minded character will cope with the idea of a mystical being. "I'm curious to see what she will do, because she has struggled with people with powers before, and we've been on a whole journey with Skye going onto Daisy and how she feels about Inhumans," she said. "You know, Ghost Rider definitely poses a huge threat and could be very dangerous, and so I think that she'll be very cautious and kind of want to get that contained."

"It's gonna probably blow [her mind]," Chloe Bennet pitched in. "I want to see, because all of the kind of crazy powers, it's all kind of been rooted in science, in something that Fitz and Simmons can always explain why it's happening. I'm curious to see how the writers are going to write it for [Henstridge's] character to explain how he could possibly have his skull be lit on fire and be fine. So I'm curious to see where they go with that."

Starring Clark Gregg, Chloe Bennet and Ming-Na Wen, "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D" returns Tuesday, September 20 at 10 pm EST on ABC.