Actor Gabriel Luna revealed that Marvel's Ghost Rider show was cancelled in the middle of pre-production. Hulu previously announced in September that the series would not be moving forward.
Gabriel Luna originally appeared as the Ghost Rider on ABC's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. He played the Robbie Reyes version of the character, who famously drives a black muscle car instead of the classic motorcycle. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D had an arc centered around the character during its fourth season. He soon became a fan-favorite, depicting a more complicated antihero as opposed to a straight hero or villain. While the character's run on the show was short-lived, fans hoped Luna could continue playing the character in a series of his own.
During an interview with Comicbook.com for his new movie Terminator: Dark Fate, Luna revealed that the Ghost Rider series had actually been in pre-production when it got the ax. Hulu had ordered the series in May to join another Marvel television show, Runaways, on the streaming platform. Luna said that he was under contract for about three years. Despite the number of changes Hulu still needed to make, Luna said he was assured that the show would be moving forward as planned. However, he later received a call informing him that the series wasn't going to be made after all. When he got the news, the first scripts were being finalized and sets were being built. Luna said that he did enjoy playing the character and knows that fans want to see him play the antihero again, but he admits that it's now out of his hands, saying its "all way above my pay grade."
Ghost Rider isn't the first Marvel television show to be cancelled in the past year. Freeform's Cloak and Dagger was just cancelled last week after two seasons. All of the Marvel shows that Netflix developed were infamously cancelled, leaving several series on unsatisfying cliffhangers. Even Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Marvel's longest-running TV show, is airing its last season in mid-2020. Even though the Marvel Cinematic Universe is one of the most successful franchises of all time, Marvel's television slate has struggled to compete with DC's popular "Arrowverse" shows on The CW.
Marvel's Ghost Rider series may not be happening anymore, but Luna has shown an interest in appearing in other comic book properties, stating that he wouldn't mind playing a different character. It isn't uncommon for actors to play multiple comic book characters on screen, with some even playing different characters in the same universe. Marvel announced this summer at San Diego Comic-Con that Mahershala Ali would be playing the Marvel Cinematic Universe's version of the vampire-slayer Blade. This would be after Ali already played another character in the MCU, the villain Cornell Stokes (aka Cottonmouth) on Netflix's Luke Cage. This provides hope to fans who wish to see Luna return to the MCU in some capacity.
Source: Comicbook.com