Agents of SHIELD’s Ghost Rider Won’t Bring Back Kyle MacLachlan

The moment Agents of SHIELD started hinting Season 4 might introduce Ghost Rider, fans were quick to remember the comic connection between Robbie Reyes and Daisy Johnson’s father. Some even hoped Season 4 might return Kyle MacLachlan’s Cal as such, but producers now confirm Ghost Rider’s origin has been tweaked.

Where the comic Robbie Reyes was shot by criminals seeking a shipment of drugs for Calvin Johnson’s “Mr. Hyde” persona, subsequently reanimating as Ghost Rider, Entertainment Weekly confirmed with SHIELD bosses that Season 4 would take a different approach. We’ll learn this version’s Ghost Rider origin before long, but executive producer Jed Whedon has other less tangible plans for Kyle MacLachlan’s return:

We talked about [tying Ghost Rider to Daisy's father]. We have other plans, but the temptation was there. Because we told such a deep and rich Hyde story, we feel like we do want to bring Kyle [MacLachlan] back in a different way later on.

MacLachlan last appeared in Season 2, and was understandably busy over the course of Season 3, but will Season 4 finally bring Cal out of hiding? How might Agents of SHIELD otherwise change up Robbie Reyes’ Ghost Rider origin?

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