The Marvel Cinematic Universe is finally starting to venture into some more mystical territory. In the past, Thor and the Asgardians have somewhat dabbled in that area and may continue to do so in ‘Thor: Ragnarok’, but as part of Phase Three, ’Iron Fist’ is currently filming in New York City, ‘Doctor Strange’ hits theaters later this fall, and ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ introduced Ghost Rider to the mix in their season premiere last week. However, the Spirit of Vengeance himself has dropped a few hints at who else could be making the jump from the pages of Marvel Comics to a screen near you.
While speaking to Collider after his debut in the season four premiere of first TV series set in the MCU, Gabriel Luna discussed the uncharted areas that the House of Ideas is taking True Believers through from here on out. While he mentioned the Sorcerer Supreme along with his fearsome Rider, the actor also casually mentioned another character that is all too familiar with skull, fire, and pain:
”We’re starting to tow the line and inch towards some ground that hasn’t been covered, but that is a huge part of the books themselves and the entire Marvel Universe and the canon of Marvel’s assortment of characters. What we haven’t touched on are things that can’t be explained perfectly by science. It’s a lot of really fun stuff that starts to lean into the world of Doctor Strange, Ghost Rider, and Mephisto, and all of these other elements that also exist there, like ghouls and goblins and all sorts of cool things. We’re happy to be the ones to break the ice on that.”
While Mephisto certainly fits thematically with the other two heroes that he mentioned, it’s hard to believe that Luna would just drop the character’s name without a good reason. In the comics, Marvel’s take on The Devil/Satan/Beelzebub/Whatever plays a part in Robbie Reyes’ origin story. Maybe it’s possible that the demon will be connected to this version as well. And maybe Mephisto will go on to play a larger part of the mythology of Marvel’s films and TV shows like Claire Temple, Agent Phil Coulson, or Thanos. Or maybe Mephisto is just fresh in Luna’s head due to the research that he’s been doing to prepare for his take on Reyes. No matter what the explanation is, the MCU is certainly getting a lot more magical these days, so you never know what may crossover from the countless realms that exist beyond our understanding of the world.
‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ starring Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker, Elizabeth Henstridge, and Henry Simmons airs on Tuesdays at 10:00pm on ABC.
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