by Gabriel Luna, who portrayed Ghost Rider in the Robbie Reyes incarnation on Marvel TV’s Agents of SHIELD, has recently changed his mind about perhaps reprising the part in the MCU.
Prior to the launch of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ghost Rider was a well-known character in Marvel Comics. over the big screen, Nicolas Cage played Johnny Blaze before Gabriel Luna took over the role of Robbie Reyes for Marvel TV.
The location of Agents of SHIELD in the MCU’s timeline is still unknown, and its canon status is in doubt by the time Robbie Reyes, played by Luna, begins telling his narrative in Season 4.
And even if the MCU’s big-screen films and the episodes created for Disney+ are considered to be canon, there has never been a guarantee that Luna would return to the role if asked.
Ghost Rider Star Is Now Free to Return to MCU
Gabriel Luna, who plays Ghost Rider on Agents of SHIELD, said in an interview with Forbes that, should the opportunity come, he would be willing to reprise his MCU role.
After Robbie Reyes’ tenure in Season 4, Luna made it plain that he “[loves] the character” and still receives daily inquiries about him:
“Oh, I love that character. It was really special. It had only come into existence in 2014 (Robbie Reyes’ Ghost Rider), created by Felipe Smith, and then it was in 2016 that we did the show and literally not a day goes by that somebody doesn’t ask me about it.
He is aware of the demand for the character’s comeback and is “always open” to making it happen, even though it might be “a few years out” if Marvel decides to do so:
“It feels like the demand may be there and if the creative is there and it makes sense… I think with Marvel right now, it’s so intricately woven that it would be a few years out if they started to think about it, to do the character. I’m always open.”
When asked this kind of question in the past, Luna responded with much less zeal, saying that he was “very happy” with what he and the show’s staff had accomplished and could look back fondly on his time spent working with Marvel, but that it was acceptable for him not to play the role again:
“My stock answer used to be, ‘I loved what we did, I’m very happy with what we accomplished and I can be happy leaving it on the shelf and admiring what we did and have the audience remember it fondly, the way they do. To do the character again just gives me another opportunity to screw it up.'”
Considering the work he accomplished with Arnold Schwarzenegger for 2019’s Terminator: Dark Fate, he’s even eager to maintain the physical demands of the part. and reiterating that “a good story” will persuade him:
“So there’s that mindset, but now I feel that I’m a lot more open should it come around. If it makes sense, I’m more than happy to…I try to keep myself in shape, Arnold demands it. So I’m still certainly physically capable of doing it and if it’s a great story and they’d have me, of course.”
He notes his time as Tommy Miller in The Last of Us and Ghost Rider as important experiences that he’s cherished, saying how the source material for his parts has helped him forge a profound connection with these stories:
“With characters like Robbie, the Ghost Rider, and Tommy (‘The Last of Us’), they’ve been established and I’ve been able to access the source material, fall in love with it in a lot of ways and sometimes when you love something that strongly, it may interrupt your process and what you’re trying to accomplish.”
Although the actor has changed his mind about returning to Marvel during the past year, this is a significant departure from how Luna previously responded to the subject.
While promoting The Last of Us in January, the actor said to ComicBook.com that “there’s definitely a lot more to say” with Robbie Reyes and that he’d “absolutely be happy to continue” if given the opportunity.
Will Gabriel Luna Return as Ghost Rider in the MCU?
Even though it’s unclear where Agents of SHIELD fits into the MCU canon, there seems to be a strong demand for Ghost Rider to make an appearance in the franchise soon.
This is particularly relevant given that the MCU intends to explore more supernatural plotlines in films like Blade and that the Multiverse is opening doorways to alternate realities populated by iconic Marvel characters.
For Marvel fans who want to see new additions to the MCU story, hearing Luna be so open to doing so is definitely exciting, especially given the Rider’s success in previous forms on both the big and small screen.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law has a reference to Ghost Rider from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Doctor Strange’s Multiverse of Madness supposedly had a battle sequence with the fiery hero in it as well.
And while it may take a while for Luna to reach his full MCU potential, these quotes could hasten the process and usher in the exciting hero in the near future.
In Season 4 of Agents of SHIELD, currently available on Disney+, Gabriel Luna plays Ghost Rider.
