Agents of SHIELD has a cult following among Marvel fans, even after the MCU abandoned it entirely. The series’ pilot episode was reportedly produced on a huge budget, but subsequent seasons saw production costs drastically reduced. Despite the low budget, the series managed to pull off some impressive CGI work for Gabriel Luna’s Robbie Reyes/Ghost Rider.
The Marvel television series decided to introduce the latest version of the antihero from the comics in Season 4 in 2016. Interestingly, the transformation scene looks cooler than Nicolas Cage’s transformation in his $120 million 2007 film, Ghost Riderand its $57 million sequel.
Agents of SHIELD Did the transformation into Ghost Rider better than Nicolas Cage’s film
Agents of SHIELD introduced Gabriel Luna’s Ghost Rider in Season 4 and probably used a considerable budget on his transformation scenes. Luna was a fan of the character as a child and was happy to play Robbie Reyes, who looked like him in the comics. Luna read all the issues of Brand new Ghost Riderin which Robbie Reyes was scouted for the role before he took it on.
In addition to the comic fans, Luna also had to meet the expectations of those who were fans of Nicolas Cage’s Ghost Rider. Cage’s first film was a box office hit despite negative reviews, but reviews for his second film worsened. According to The Numbers, the budget was cut from $120 million in the first film to $57 million in the second, resulting in poor CGI effects.
In comparison Agents of SHIELD managed to get much better CGI scenes for Luna’s Ghost Rider. One X-user, @Gh0stAnd0r, posted a video of the character’s various transformation scenes in the ABC series in response to a video of Cage’s transformation scene.
All of his Ghost Rider transformations are cooler though. 🤷🏻 https://t.co/wiw79bstlA pic.twitter.com/fsRkdZbBUt
— BlueAndor (@Gh0stAnd0r) 23 August 2024
Another video appeared on the r/marvelstudios subreddit that showed the CGI analysis of several visual effects-heavy scenes in the series. These included Luna’s scenes along with his Hellcharger “Lucy” (a 1969 Dodge Charger) is burning.
How Agents of SHIELD Bring Gabriel Luna’s Ghost Rider to life?
According to visual effects supervisor Mark Kolpack, Gabriel Luna used a CG double when he had to transform into Ghost Rider. Marvel Television’s creative department Joshua Shaw told ComicBook.com that he designed the distinctive costume and flaming head based on the comic book design by Felipe Smith.
In Marvel’s making-of video for the series, it was revealed that the skull design also included exhaust-like jets of flame from the temples, mimicking the character’s car. Luna interestingly wore tracking markers on his face for the CG skull. Luna also wore a hood with flickering lights that created the effect of fire illuminating his costumes.
Interestingly, Luna was set to star in his own spin-off show on Hulu in 2019. According to ComicBook.com, Luna’s spin-off would have kicked off a Marvel team of supernatural heroes.
Agents of SHIELD is now available on Disney+. Ghost Rider is currently available on Tubi.
