What Deal Did Coulson Make with Ghost Rider? Explained

One of the first major TV series before Disney+ was ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,’ which started airing immediately after the release of ‘The Avengers’ movie in 2012. To this day, we are still unsure if the show is part of the MCU universe, and fans still hope that Kevin Feige will confirm ‘Agents of SH.I.E.L.D.’ as part of MCU. Regardless of the canon or non-canon circumstances around the show, it had amazing storylines, especially in season 4 and season 5, when Ghost Rider featured and became a major plot point in both seasons. In this article, we will discuss what deal Agent Coulson did make with Ghost Rider.

Coulson made a deal with the Ghost Rider to defeat Aida, a former Life Model Decoy who turned into an Inhuman, by sacrificing his life that was restored in the ‘Tahiti Project’ after Loki killed him in 2012. The brief fusion with the Spirit of Vengence and the consequent deal was revealed to his close ones in the ‘Real Deal,’ which resulted in his dying in the sixth season, retired and happy in Tahiti, in the company of Melinda May.

‘Agents of SH.I.E.L.D’ is a very loved show that surprisingly got even better as the seasons went through, and the Ghost Rider cameo really “spiced” things up for Coulson and his team. The deal led to Agent Coulson’s death in the end, so if you’re interested in more details, stay with us until the end.

What happened before Coulson-Ghost Rider deal?

‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ started airing after ‘The Avengers’ movie in 2012 specifically, the first season aired in 2013, and it revolved around Agent Phil Coulson, who was revived after being killed by Loki during the Attack on Helicarrier.

Fury organized his resurrection using the treatments that Project T.A.H.I.T.I developed that he also formerly was supervising. However, the side effects of the treatment led to people losing their sanity, and to prevent that, Agent Coulson’s memories of his life before his death and subsequent resurrection were deleted from his mind. Since then, Coulson has led the new team within the S.H.I.E.L.D., the cases the agency never green-lighted.

The HYDRA Uprising within the agency led to the first big crisis for the team, and it led to Coulson being appointed as the new director of S.H.I.E.L.D. The HYDRA danger continued, and the internal conflict started rising once again, but Coulson and his team tried their best to stay on top of everything.

Of course, the threat became even more dangerous, especially with the Inhumans and Kree crisis, ultimately leading to Coulson dealing with the devil. The whole conflict started with the reveleation of the powerful dark magical book, Darkhold. For many years, various people wanted to get a hold of the powerful book, which prompted Coulson to send Daisy Johnson and Ghost Rider to find it before Lucy Bauer.

However, the explosion was caused by the former employee at Momentum Labs and the maternal uncle of Robbie Reyes, Eli Morrow, who betrayed his colleagues to take power for himself and managed to control the matter of his own will.

Coulson eventually got imprisoned by Holden Radcliffe in The Framework, where he lived as a history teacher. With the help of Jemma Simmons and Daisy Johnson, Coulson escapes the Framework, and proceeds to fight against Aida, a former Life Model Decoy, turned A.I., then turned into an Inhuman. However, even Agent Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. and his closest allies couldn’t defeat the enemy on their own, which led to the deal that would determine the faith of the indestructible agent.

Why Coulson made a deal with Ghost Rider?

The story of the Ghost Rider in the ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ series starts in season four. Robbie Reyes was a rebel that was involved in the criminal underworld, specifically in illegal drag racing in Los Angeles. After suffering a fatal car accident that caused his brother Gabe to be disabled, before his death, Robbie pleads to gods and anyone to spare his brother, swearing he will do anything to save his brother.

After his death, a strange voice calls to him in the darkness, asking him if he is ready for revenge, to punish everyone who caused him and his brother pain, to which Robbie replies affirmatively. A mysterious figure with a blazing head approaches the destroyed car and saves Gabe, revealing himself as Johnny Blaze. The strange man touches Robbie and transfers the Spirit of Vengence onto him, transforming him into a new Ghost Rider.

As Ghost Rider, Robbie spent years hunting everyone who wronged him, including his “evil” uncle Eli Morrow, who ended up in jail after killing his former employer. During his revenge mission, Robbie stumbles upon agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. As Ghost Rider, Robbie clashes against Quake, who questions his morals and methods of “cleaning” streets of crime.

However, after sparing Quake’s life, Ghost Rider eventually (after many other events) joins Daisy and S.H.I.E.L.D. in efforts to prevent Lucy Bauer from reaching the mysterious book Darkhold and eventually his power-hungry uncle Eli Morrow, which leads to the epic battle.

The aforementioned Aida, is a new threat trying to destroy everyone, and even with Ghost Rider, the team struggles to kill the LMD that turned into an Inhuman. Coulson makes a decision that will change his life forever – he makes a deal with the Spirit of Vengence to kill Aida by temporarily fusing with the devil and eventually defeating the threat.

The rest of the team doesn’t know about the deal until the 100th episode of ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ reveals that Coulson sacrificed his life to save the world. In other words, Coulson was resurrected by the special drug created under Project T.A.H.I.T.I. of Kree descent, which was “canceled” after his deal with the Spirit of Vengence.

In season 5, episode 12 of the show, titled ‘The Real Deal,’ we learn that Coulson is dying. Since then, the now-sick agent Coulson has worked with his team to escape the dark future, defeat HYDRA once more, deal with the alien invasion that featured in ‘Avengers: Infinity War,’ fight against the evil intergalactic alliance Confederacy, and finally, defeat Glenn Talbot, ultimately sacrificing his life for the cause.

The sixth season was bittersweet for ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ fans because they witnessed the final death of Agent Phil Coulson – he spent his last days in Tahiti with his lover and fellow agent Melinda May, dying peacefully for the last time.

‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ was a solid series showcasing how one Marvel show could bring really good characters and storylines from the comics and adapt them for television. The show is not confirmed to be canon by Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios, leaving many fans disappointed.

However, in the grand scheme of things, ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ is still proving that it is by far the best TV project made by Marvel Studios to this day (since the “birth” of MCU), even after the release of Disney+ shows – some showrunners should look back and see how one can create a good superhero show.

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