Clark Gregg reprises his role as Coulson from the film series, starring alongside Ming-Na Wen, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker, Elizabeth Henstridge, Henry Simmons, and John Hannah.

A fourth season was ordered in March 2016, with Gabriel Luna introduced as Ghost Rider, a character created through both practical and visual effects.

He was included as part of the series exploring supernatural elements ahead of the release of the MCU film Doctor Strange (2016).

"The Ghost" originally aired on ABC on September 20, 2016, at the later time of 10:00 pm which allowed it to be darker and more mature than previous seasons.

The episode was watched by 6.24 million viewers within a week, and received mostly positive reviews due to its new status quo and the introduction of Ghost Rider.

agent Daisy Johnson, now the vigilante "Quake", is hunting gang affiliates of the anti-Inhuman terrorist group Watchdogs in Los Angeles when members of the Aryan Brotherhood are murdered by the fiery "Ghost Rider" in front of her.

They fly to Los Angeles under the guise of checking in on Inhuman asset Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez, who has signed the controversial Sokovia Accords and is now under the jurisdiction of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Fitz discovers that Radcliffe has secretly transferred his artificial intelligence AIDA into a human-like body, which he intends to be the first in a line of decoys for field agents in danger.

Believing Radcliffe's altruistic intentions, Fitz agrees to help him perfect Aida, and to keep her a secret from his girlfriend Agent Jemma Simmons, who is in the paranoid Director's inner circle, and takes daily lie-detector tests.

[2] In August 2016, Marvel confirmed that series regulars for the season would include the returning Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson, Ming-Na Wen as Melinda May, Chloe Bennet as Daisy Johnson / Quake, Iain De Caestecker as Leo Fitz, Elizabeth Henstridge as Jemma Simmons, and Henry Simmons as Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie.

[9][10] When Ghost Rider was confirmed to be joining the season at San Diego Comic-Con, after months of speculation,[11][3] Gabriel Luna was revealed to be cast in the role.

[12] In August, Mallory Jansen was cast as the android Aida,[13] whose artificial intelligence was briefly voiced by Amanda Rea during the third-season finale.

[14][15] In September 2016, Marvel confirmed that Luna, Henrie, Jansen, and Birdsell would guest star in "The Ghost", and that they would be joined by Natalia Cordova-Buckley as Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez, Briana Venskus as Agent Piper, Max Osinski as Agent Red, Ricardo Walker as Agent Prince, Edward Gelhaus as skinhead, Ian Hutton as Blondie, Blaise Miller as lab tech, Samuel Barajas as Felix, Bryan Rasmussen as warehouse manager, Wilson Ramirez as Diego, Jen Kuo Sung as Chen, and Jerry Ying as thug #1.

[21] The episode's cold open was filmed at Mariachi Plaza over four nights,[18] and introduces Ghost Rider in a recreation of Robbie Reyes' comic introduction: his car, a 1969 Dodge Charger, is hit by a rocket, flips in the air, and lands with its Ghost Rider flames on driving towards some gang members.

[24][25] The effect of Ghost Rider and his flaming skull was imitated on set by Luna wearing a hood fitted with flickering lights that could be adjusted to match different temperature fire for different situations.

[5][6] The premiere episode was first shown, before its ABC airing, at a special fan screening event held for the season on September 19, 2016, at Pacific Theatres at The Grove in Los Angeles.

[35] Terri Schwartz of IGN scored the premiere 8 out of 10, indicating a "great" episode, and praising the introduction of Ghost Rider and subsequent darker tone which "will eventually allow [the series] to sit more comfortably beside its corporate cousins over on Netflix".

Schwartz was positive about the smaller cast compared to the previous season, which meant that the episode "doesn't feel as overstuffed as it would have", and of Coulson not finding Johnson and asking her to return to S.H.I.E.L.D.

Schwartz did feel that there were some "growing pains" with the transition to more mature material, particularly criticizing the "sexy" opening of the episode with Johnson because "S.H.I.E.L.D.

[37] Kevin Fitzpatrick of ScreenCrush said, "I'm nervous for Season 4 overall, especially if said reinvention doesn't goose the ratings like Marvel and ABC hope, but "The Ghost" is reason enough for some casual optimism."

Valentine called Robbie Reyes "satisfactory" and the Ghost Rider "where things really shined"; "ABC pretty much nail the look [of Ghost Rider], and while he's obviously been tweaked to more accurately portray this new interpretation of the Spirit of Vengeance, he looks great in motion all the same ... his car has a particularly cool scene where it transforms mid air and lands in a fiery blast."

He concluded saying, "the show still has all the flaws and strengths that [it] is known for ... [but] if you're looking to rejoin your favorite agents for another solid romp with the added twist of throwing Ghost Rider into the mix, this one's for you.