Why UK viewers should be excited for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D’s Ghost Rider filled Season 4 despite the long wait

[Neighbourhood Friendly Mild Spoiler Warning]

Agents of Shield has rip-roared itself back onto American screens with season four starting for our neighbours across the pond towards the end of last month. With Grant Ward/Hive dead, this time it’s packing a hot-rod driving, penance giving Ghost Rider! Unfortunately us folks here in the UK have to wait quite some time to see Daisy and co take on the new flame-headed addition to the show as the rumoured release date for the UK is early 2017.

I know, that seems grossly unfair that we’d have to wait almost six months after America gets it but there is, believe it or not, a decent reason behind this decision. Apparently those in the know are suggesting it’s a way for the UK viewers to avoid the ‘mid-season break’ that often breaks up a season ruining all the momentum a show has gathered.

If you’re still not convinced that waiting all the way until next year is a good thing let me tell you that it will absolutely be worth it. How do I know that? Well, I’ve been lucky enough to have gotten my hands on the first couple of episodes and it really does seem like Agents of Shield is continuing to go from strength and strength and cement itself as one of the best television shows out there.

The series picks off pretty much exactly where it left off in the season three finale with Coulson no longer the head of S.H.I.E.L.D, but continuing to hunt down Daisy, who has gone rogue and doing her own thing now. However Daisy’s activities soon cause her to cross paths with an effortlessly awesome Ghost Rider and suddenly our beloved agents are caught in a mystifying mystery involving fiery car driving spirts, life model decoys and actual ghosts being released from boxes. Yes you heard that right!

However the most promising element of the first two episodes are the changes to the status quo. Firstly there’s a new boss of S.H.I.E.L.D and the show takes its time revealing who exactly they are. This makes the reveal in episode two, that not only is the new boss of S.H.I.E.L.D smart, charming and suave but also has another rather surprising trait, all the better. It hasn’t been explicitly stated yet, but it’s hinted that this new guy is another obscure Marvel character that fans will be pleased to see brought to life.

But the main appeal of this new season is obviously Gabriel Luna’s Robbie Reyes aka The Ghost Rider. Already this is a major plus because many people, like myself, never thought we’d see another version of Ghost Rider in the marvel cinematic universe other than the Nicolas Cage iteration. But here we are in 2016/2017 with a regular episodic television show that contains a kick-ass spirit of vengeance murdering bad-guys with his demon car and oh so much fire, and that is just plain awesome.

Sure there will always be that worry that they will ‘mess up’ the character and ‘ruin’ it for actual fans, but I honestly have to say that from what I’ve seen already, so far so good. The first episode opens with a fairly epic action scene involving a hidden Ghost Rider and his badass Dodge Charger (I think it’s a Dodge Charger, I’m not a car guy) avoiding rocket launchers and gun-fire to murder some thugs because they deserve it. It’s a great sequence and really shows that not only do Marvel TV have a good grasp of Ghost Rider, but that they’re starting as they mean to go on.

So yes, there is a bit of a wait for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D’s fourth season but you guys don’t need to have that existential new season crisis, you know the ‘I hope this season is as good as the last ones’ feeling and you don’t need to wake up in the middle of the night with the deep sense of dread that the writers are going to absolutely lose their grip and the show will decline in quality. For the first two episodes at least that absolutely hasn’t happened, I can assure you! Seeing Ghost Rider on television will be worth the wait I promise. Besides there’s always Luke Cage to tide you over!