Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4 Premiere Synopsis And New Look At Ghost Rider

Marvel knows what audiences want -- and this season on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., that's Ghost Rider.

Lots and lots of Ghost Rider.

Lucky for all of us, they've got pipin' hot new Ghost Rider to offer tonight, along with the official synopsis for Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s season four premiere synopsis.

As in previous years, the events of the premiere spin largely out of the events of a recent Marvel Cinematic Universe film -- in this case, Captain America: Civil War.

You can check it out below...!

In light of the Sokovia Accords, and with Hydra obliterated, S.H.I.E.L.D. has been legitimatized again and no longer needs to operate in the shadows. Since the world presumes that Coulson is dead, the organization needed a new Director to be the face of the organization. Coulson finds himself back in the role as an agent and teamed with Mack, and together they are tasked with tracking down and confirming the presence of Enhanced people, aka Inhumans. Agent May is tasked with training specialist strike teams, and Fitz and Simmons have taken a big step forward in their relationship.

After a pair of critically- and commercially-unsuccessful films starring Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze, the most recognizable Ghost Rider, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will bring in Gabriel Luna this season to play Robbie Reyes, the most recent Ghost Rider, who is notable to comic book readers as the version who drives a soupled-up muscle car instead of a motorcycle.

The character has been the central focus of much of the promotion leading up to season four -- perhaps in response to the persistent criticism of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. that it lacks recognizable Marvel superheroes. With Skye/Daisy becoming Quake in recent years, and the popularity of the show driving characters like Coulson and Agent Ward to become visible characters in the comics, that criticism has ebbed a bit, but Ghost Rider is certainly a level up from Quake in terms of brand recognition.

"We can't say much about what we're going to do with [Robbie Reyes'] origin, but we are doing our own spin on it," Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Executive Producer Jed Whedon said during a recent interview. "We don't want people who have read the comics to know exactly what's coming."

Luna's Robbie Reyes is just one addition to the Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. cast in season four. Jason O'Mara will play the new Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Parminder Nagra has been added as a politician with an anti-Inhuman agenda. Lilli Birdsell will also have a recurring role in the season.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns to ABC on September 20 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.