Robbie Reyes For Agents of Shield Explained
At San Diego Comic Con, the long rumored arrival of Ghost Rider was confirmed. However, it was not the version that many, even casual fans, knew in the form of Johnny Blaze. Rather, it was a newer incarnation in Robbie Reyes. During a press sit down, Jeph Loeb, Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen talked about the decision to bring in Reyes.
“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.'”