Marvel TV, Hulu go on an Adventure into Fear with Ghost Rider and Helstrom

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

As announced a few months ago, Marvel TV is working with the Hulu streaming service on new live-action shows based on the Marvel Comics properties Ghost Rider and Helstrom. These are characters who have crossed paths several times in the pages of the source material, recently even forming a team called Spirits of Vengeance that also included the vampire killer Blade, and it sounds like they'll be crossing paths on Hulu as well.

Speaking with Deadline, Marvel Television's chief Jeph Loeb revealed that the Ghost Rider and Helstrom shows are part of an endeavor called Adventure into Fear that sounds like it will be similar to what Marvel TV did on Netflix, where they followed in the footsteps of the Marvel Cinematic Universe solo films building up to the crossover event of THE AVENGERS – the characters of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist were introduced on their own shows, then teamed up as The Defenders. Marvel will be doing something like that with their upcoming animated shows on Hulu, as Howard the Duck, MODOK, Hit-Monkey, and Tigra and Dazzler will be getting their own shows before teaming up in a special called The Offenders.

So what kind of crossover can we expect to see involving Ghost Rider and Helstrom? Loeb isn't saying just yet, but this is what he could say: 

LOEB: We were talking to (Hulu), and they started scratching because when you look at the success that they’ve had with Castle Rock and the world of terror. Something that really interested us and interested them, and we always knew that we were going to do something with Ghost Rider, we were just waiting for the right place to put it.

Then we started having the same conversation, which was there is in the comic book world the Spirits of Vengeance, and they are this sort of unusual group of characters, which involve Ghost Rider, which involve Helstrom, which involve Helstrom’s sister, Anna. We suddenly saw that there were three or four shows that we could put together that we now refer to as Adventure into Fear.

DEADLINE: Is that Marvel Horror under another name?

LOEB: No, it’s terror, because when you say horror, it means so many different things. There’s everything from Saw, which is the last thing that we want to do, gore-fest kind of thing to there’s a monster running around. What we love is the notion of how we can present a Marvel hero who was truly feared and truly believed that they were a monster, but that, as the stories go on, they realize, oh, I’m the hero of the story, I’m not the villain of the story. That’s not something we’ve ever done before. So we started with Ghost Rider, we went out and managed to get Gabriel Luna to come back and reproduce the role he played on (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) Then we’re going to do Helstrom, and then there’s a couple more that we haven’t yet revealed to the world.

As Loeb mentions, Ghost Rider is set to star Gabriel Luna as 

Robbie Reyes, the quintessential antihero, who lives on the Texas/Mexico border, consumed by hellfire and supernaturally bound to a demon. When he unleashes the Rider, Robbie brings vengeance for the innocents he encounters, but struggles controlling the power he wields. 

Loeb will be executive producing Ghost Rider with Paul Zbyszewski and showrunner Ingrid Escajeda.

Loeb and Zbyszewski are also executive producing Helstrom, for which Zbyszewski will be the showrunner. That show will center on 

Daimon and Ana Helstrom, the son and daughter of a mysterious and powerful serial killer. The siblings have a complicated dynamic as they track down the worst of humanity — each with their attitude and skills. 

Collaborations between Marvel Television and ABC Signature Studios, Ghost Rider and Helstrom are expected to reach Hulu sometime in 2020. We'll keep you updated on these shows, and the other shows involved in this Adventure into Fear, as they move forward.

Adventure into Fear was the title of a Marvel comic that ran for 31 issues back in the '70s. Several issues focused on the character known as the Man-Thing, so maybe the Man-Thing will soon be making its way to Hulu…