Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. spent most of Season 4 building to the reveal of how Robbie Reyes became Ghost Rider, and the latest episode finally delivered when it showed via flashback the moment when Robbie seemingly received his powers from another Ghost Rider. The episode didn't reveal who this other Ghost Rider actually was, and fans have only been able to speculate since. Now, a tweet from star Gabriel Luna may be the proof we needed to know for sure. Check it out:
Gabriel Luna, who plays the vengeful hero on the show, shared an image of the Marvel comics version of Robbie Reyes teaming up with the original Ghost Rider himself, a.k.a. Johnny Blaze. The image comes from an issue of the All-New Ghost Rider series that was released back in 2014. Robbie was being overtaken by the spirit that inhabited his body when he became Ghost Rider, and Johnny dropped in to subdue the spirit with a Penance Stare and help Robbie take control once more.
Technically, Gabriel Luna's tweet of the comic cover doesn't definitiely mean that Johnny Blaze is on the way for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Luna could just be excited about his role on the show and wanted to share his enthusiasm. Then, there's the fact that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is going on a break for a few weeks. The actor may just be trying to create buzz to keep fans talking for the weeks that the show is off the air. Conversely, a new Ghost Rider series is set to kick off from Marvel at the end of the month. Luna may have gotten the nudge from Marvel to try to point S.H.I.E.L.D. fans in the direction of the comics.
That said, there are big reasons to believe that Johnny Blaze really is coming to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. One of the most obvious is just that Johnny Blaze makes the most sense as the Ghost Rider who gave Robbie Reyes his powers. The episode didn't give a look at his non-flaming face, but he wore a leather jacket and rode a motorcycle, both of which are iconic to Johnny Blaze as Ghost Rider.
Admittedly, Johnny Blaze wasn't the only Ghost Rider to favor leather and a motorcycle, but Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. dropped another hint that it was Johnny rather than Danny Ketch or any of the other incarnations of the character. A recent episode showed a poster for Quentin Carnival, which comic fans recognized as the place where Johnny Blaze worked as a motorcycle stuntman.
On top of the visual cues that Robbie Reyes got his powers from Johnny Blaze, we have the reality that it could backfire spectacularly if it turns out that Gabriel Luna teased a major character like Johnny Blaze when S.H.I.E.L.D. never intended to introduce him. Fans are undoubtedly going to be excited by the possibility of the first and latest Ghost Riders interacting on screen, and Luna's tweet seems like roundabout confirmation. Besides, it's not like he tweeted the most recent Ghost Rider cover. He specifically chose one with both Robbie and Johnny featured, and it's more than two years old at this point.
All in all, the odds seem in favor of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. officially introducing Johnny Blaze in some fashion or other. The show is apparently set on focusing on Robbie Reyes as Ghost Rider, so we shouldn't count on too much Johnny Blaze, but he could definitely be in the works. Tune in to the next episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on Tuesday, November 29 at 10 p.m. ET to see what happens next for Robbie.
