When
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. announced that their fourth season would introduce
Ghost Rider, many fans hoped that the Spirit of Vengeance would feature in a season-long capacity. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case when Robbie Reyes seemingly sacrificed himself to destroy the demon core and his Uncle Eli in the winter finale of the show.
S.H.I.E.L.D. will be shifting its focus to AIDA and Life Model Decoys upon its return, but don't count out Ghost Rider just yet.
“He is trapped in another place,” co-showrunner Jed Whedon said to TV Line,
“which usually means that he’s not dead.” Executive producer Jeffrey Bell also elaborated that a season-long stint of Ghost Rider would be troublesome both financially and creatively.
“[Ghost Rider is] a lot for 22 [episodes], especially with everything else that we like and care about on the show. It would feel like one flavor over a long period of time, but we’ve certainly left it open [to revisit]."
The Darkhold will continue to serve as the connective tissue in between each arc of the season, but the production team wanted each section to possess its own unique "flavor" in order to keep things fresh.
“We want everything to feel like its own mini world, and to have its own flavor,” Whedon said.
“So we do think you’ll come into the next section [of episodes] and immediately feel like, ‘Oh, this is a different kind of story.’ So we’re excited about that.”
As for the second part of the season, Whedon says the theme of trust will be lingering when the show returns.
“Trust is always an issue in a spy organization. But it’s much worse when you don’t know if the person next to you is the person next to you,” Whedon noted.
“We want to not just tell scare stories of things popping out of closets, but the emotional stories — and when you get into trust, that’s when things get emotional.”
Are you excited for S.H.I.E.L.D. to tackle LMD's?
Let us know in the comments.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns on
January 10, 2017.
AGENT MAY’S DEADLY SECRET COULD DESTROY COULSON AND THE TEAM, ON ABC’S ‘MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.’
“Broken Promises” – Though Coulson and May are growing closer, Coulson remains unaware of the dark secret May is hiding beneath the surface. Meanwhile, Aida is unrelenting in her search for the Darkhold, on “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” TUESDAY, JANUARY 10 (10:00-11:00 p.m. EST), on the ABC Television Network.