MCU followers are eagerly awaiting the introduction of the Sentry, the tremendous powered anti-hero who appears all set to emerge onto the scene in team-up film Thunderbolts, performed by an actor who’s already a superhero icon.
On Nov. 17, Invincible creator Robert Kirkman let slip in an interview that Steven Yeun, who performs the titular hero of the Prime Video animated sequence, has instructed him he’s portraying the Sentry in Thunderbolts, presently scheduled for launch on July 25, 2025, as a part of the MCU’s Part Six. If that is certainly the case, then we suspect we’ll be seeing much more of Yeun within the franchise. Not solely was a Sentry Disney Plus series rumored in December 2022, however the Sentry simply be Marvel’s strongest hero.
Within the comics, Robert (not Ryan) Reynolds is an omega-level menace who’s gone up towards the likes of Physician Doom and held his personal, however traditionally he hasn’t been given a lot respect. Possibly his incoming MCU debut might lastly flip issues round for the Golden Guardian of Good.
What’s the Sentry’s origin story?
Though he was solely created in 2000, by Paul Jenkins, Jae Lee, and Rick Veitch, Sentry is canonically one of many earliest superheroes in Marvel comics, previous even the Incredible 4. Most view him as merely an apparent analogue for DC’s Superman, however he’s nonetheless a valiant hero in his personal proper with an enchanting historical past.
In 1947, Canada’s Division Okay and the US’ Operation: Rebirth merged to kind Undertaking Sentry. The intent behind this union was to take the tremendous soldier serum that was used to make Steve Rogers Captain America to the following degree, however the Chilly Warfare fragmented the operation and a number of sub-projects emerged. In consequence, it was onerous to maintain monitor of all the info and sources all through the years and Undertaking Sentry’s lab work discovered its option to an unnamed professor who experimented with the formulation and perfected it.
Robert was a troublemaker as a teen and hooked on meth. He snuck into the professor’s lab and consumed the Golden Sentry Serum, which gave him the facility of 1,000,000 exploding suns. It created an explosion and he grew in power, but it surely by the way killed his accomplice and the safety guards. Robert requested the professor to create extra of the serum and later Undertaking Sentry needed to run checks on him, however he in the end selected as a substitute to exit into the world and turn into the superhero Sentry after getting right into a struggle with college bullies.
Sentry #1 presents Robert Reynolds within the trendy age as a middle-aged man who has forgotten that he was a superhero. He has flashbacks of his historic adventures as a superhero who fought alongside different heroes to defeat the Void, a darkish entity that embodies negativity. The Void tells Robert that he’s coming again, and this pushes Robert right into a state of insanity that pushes his spouse away from him and he turns into the Sentry once more. When he does the Void adjustments the story and tells him he’s not a hero, main Robert to query what’s actual and what’s not.
To make issues extra complicated, the opposite heroes don’t keep in mind the Sentry, together with Reed Richards/Mr. Incredible, however when Robert says the phrase “unicorn” throughout their dialog, one thing clicks. It leads Reed to analyze a unicorn statue that was given to him for being Robert’s greatest man at his marriage ceremony. It was actual in any case and Robert absolutely accepts his superhero id and prepares to battle the Void.
How is the Sentry linked to the Thunderbolts?
Valentina Allegra De Fontaine (Julia Louis Dreyfus) has been assembling a staff of anti-heroes from throughout the MCU for the aim of placing collectively a staff that may get issues achieved that the Avengers can’t. In Black Panther: Wakanda Perpetually, highly effective nations intend to realize the nation’s Vibranium. Valentina is the director of the CIA and the U.S. authorities steals MIT pupil Riri Williams’ (Dominique Thorne) vibration-finding radar, main many to consider that she (and subsequently the Thunderbolts) will wish to full this mission. The query is, how does Sentry match into all of this?
Sentry was born from a top-secret program and as Valentina’s actions verify, there are governmental events working within the shadows to handle this superhero scenario. Undertaking Sentry may very well be one thing she’s conscious of for the aim of the US having its personal superpowered hero on name. Valentina is the kind of character who has plans on prime of plans, and nobody ought to underestimate the lengths she’d go to finish an goal.
If Marvel Studios decides to stay extra trustworthy to the comics, it will make sense for Sentry to have his personal solo mission after Thunderbolts. Robert Reynolds’ story is advanced and deeply private, and it will want time to discover the heavier themes, particularly if it contains Sentry: Reborn by Jenkins and John Romita Jr., the place Robert is recognized with schizophrenia. It might be important to additionally nail down how Sentry stands on his personal, and that he’s not only a Superman clone.
The Sentry could be the hardest page-to-screen adaptation the MCU’s ever needed to deal with, however the rewards may very well be properly price it.