'Agents of SHIELD' Season 4: Ties To 'Doctor Strange' Confirmed! Is Ghost Rider The Key? [VIDEO]
The Marvel Cinematic Universe will pull out eh "It's All Connected" hashtag this fall, linking Agents of SHIELD with Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange.
Executive producer Jeph Loeb alluded to as much while speaking with EnStars at July's San Diego Comic-Con, and, now that the Agents of SHIELD season 4 premiere is just days away, showrunners Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen have confirmed the connection.
"Our ties are at times very direct and at times are more thematic," Whedon told Entertainment Weekly. "The tie this year will feel more of a reflection of the movie, less an interweaving plot. As that movie hits the world, it comes at the right time in our show, and you will see some of those same ideas being explored."
This announcement comes as no surprise if you factor in the appearance of Ghost Rider. Robbie Reyes' character has strong ties to the supernatural, and he will make his debut just weeks before Doctor Strange begins his journey into the realm of myth and magic.
Although Doctor Strange won't explain magic in scientific terms, you can bet Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) will try their damnedest to uncover a plausible reason for Ghost Rider's little condition.
"If he can't find a reason, he'll look for one," De Caestecker told EnStars at SDCC. "He's quite cynical - well, not cynical, but science he believes can explain probably everything. I can't imagine it would be something that he would immediately kind of accept."
In the meantime, SHIELD will have to determine Reyes' loyalties. Is he a hero or a villain?
"He's a different kind of threat than anything we've faced before," Clark Gregg (Coulson) told Entertainment Weekly. "It introduces a part of the Marvel world that deals more with strange elements of the Marvel Universe and he's definitely the villain from hell."
Find out more when Agents of SHIELD returns to ABC on Sept. 20 at 10 p.m. ET. Click the video below to see a preview for season 4.
