Agents of SHIELD star Gabriel Luna will star in Ghost Rider solo series

Honestly, we’ve been hoping for news about Gabriel Luna of Agents of SHIELD getting his own Ghost Rider show for years now. Where has it been? It felt like such a foregone conclusion, given that Luna managed to do something that we weren’t quite sure was possible in a post-Nicolas Cage era: Make this character feel new and different and we say this as someone who appreciated sort of the camp fun of Cage’s movies, but really likes the new interpretation that we got from Gabriel as Robbie Reyes.

Today, the news is officially coming out that we’re getting a Ghost Rider series, though not in the way that some may have thought. For starters, this doesn’t really seem to be an Agents of SHIELD spin-off series, and we’re not altogether sure that Coulson, Daisy, or any other character will be even referenced. This version of Ghost Rider is set to air on Hulu rather than ABC and is apparently going to focus on Robbie as a man living close to the Texas/Mexico border who struggles at times with the Spirit of Vengeance while doing the awesome/terrifying stuff that this character is one to do. Ingrid Escajeda is going to serve as showrunner for the new project.

Even without there being a whole lot in the way of obvious Agents of SHIELD connections with this show, we don’t really care — what we want is just a high-octane, fantastic version of Ghost Rider that does this character justice. It needs to be action-packed and intense, but also haunting given that Reyes is not someone who can really hold anyone close. He’s controlled by something dangerous and unwieldy, something that he may struggle to get a full handle on for the entirety of the time this spirit inhabits him.

We’re also certainly pleased that Marvel is sticking with Luna, knowing that he did a fantastic job as the character previously and any other performer slotted into that spot would face all sorts of constant comparisons to him.

Can we also say that we’re glad that the show is coming to Hulu? We’ll admit that in a Disney+ world our nerves have started to spike that Disney is going to shrug their shoulders at bringing Marvel properties to other networks/services under their umbrella. After all, we know about some of the much-hyped stuff that they’re bringing to that service already, including shows that feature prominent Marvel characters like Loki. They could’ve easily thrown Ghost Rider over there, but on Hulu he can bring a new legion of subscribers to the streaming service — which, for the record, Disney has a large ownership stake in. They have no reason to be anything other than committed in keeping this going and shipping over some awesome properties. Ghost Rider fits the bill, and now the rider’s just gotta ride again … though it’s probably not gonna happen this year.

Want to preview more of what’s next on the Agents of SHIELD premiere?

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