The Patriot to join ‘Agents of SHIELD’ season 4, Ghost Rider will be back
The new Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. version of Mace, the new SHIELD director played by Jason O’Mara may be different than the ’40s era Marvel Comics hero The Patriot, but the connection appears to be coming, based on a new episode synopsis.
The second episode of this fourth season is titled “The Patriot”, and based on the synopsis below, that could well mean fans will see Mace suit-up.
Episode 4.10 – The Patriot
Coulson (Clark Gregg) and Mack (Henry Simmons) discover a shocking secret about Mace, which leaves all of S.H.I.E.L.D. in a dangerous position.
Guests: Jason O’Mara, Mallory Jansen, Adrian Pasdar, Maximilian Osinski, Patrick Cavanaugh, Troy Caylak, Kimberley Drummond, Shelly Robertson, Alastair Bayardo
Meanwhile S.H.I.E.L.D. will be shifting its focus to AIDA and Life Model Decoys upon its return, but don’t count out Ghost Rider just yet.
“He is trapped in another place,” co-showrunner Jed Whedon said to TV Line, “which usually means that he’s not dead.”
Executive producer Jeffrey Bell also elaborated that a season-long stint of Ghost Rider would be troublesome both financially and creatively. “[Ghost Rider is] a lot for 22 [episodes], especially with everything else that we like and care about on the show. It would feel like one flavor over a long period of time, but we’ve certainly left it open [to revisit].”
The Darkhold will continue to serve as the between each arc of the season, but the production team wanted each section to possess its own unique “flavor” in order to keep things fresh.
“We want everything to feel like its own mini world, and to have its own flavor,” Whedon said. “So we do think you’ll come into the next section [of episodes] and immediately feel like, ‘Oh, this is a different kind of story.’ So we’re excited about that.”
As for the second part of the season, Whedon says the theme of trust will be lingering when the show returns.
“Trust is always an issue in a spy organization. But it’s much worse when you don’t know if the person next to you is the person next to you,” Whedon noted. “We want to not just tell scare stories of things popping out of closets, but the emotional stories — and when you get into trust, that’s when things get emotional.”
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.returns on January 10, 2017.
