"How Are They Supposed To Beat That Guy?": THUNDERBOLTS* Director On Choosing Sentry As The Movie's Villain

"How Are They Supposed To Beat That Guy?": THUNDERBOLTS* Director On Choosing Sentry As The Movie's Villain

Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier has addressed the concerns surrounding how the movie's leads will contend with The Sentry (and The Void), explaining that it was about exploring an "internal" conflict.

By JoshWilding - Apr 28, 2025 07:04 AM EST
Filed Under: Thunderbolts
Source: Screen Rant

Thunderbolts* is just a few days away from arriving in theaters, and The Sentry's MCU debut continues to generate excitement among fans. 

While he's been featured in merchandise, neither he nor The Void have been fully revealed in trailers for the movie. That alone has built intrigue, but ever since we first learned of plans for "Bob," fans have wondered the same thing: how can this team possibly contend with Marvel's version of Superman?

U.S. Agent, Bucky Barnes, and Red Guardians are Super Soldiers, and Ghost has a pretty impressive power set. Yelena Belova is a regular human, though, and Taskmaster...well, we don't expect her to make it to the final battle. 

The comic book Sentry has God-like powers, as does The Void. Talking to Screen Rant, Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier shared his take on making this clash work on screen. 

"I think it more just came from the endemic story that we had to tell. When you have Sentry and the Void - and people have said it online, 'How are they supposed to beat that guy?' - we know it's always going to have to be a more internal version."

"I think what we tried to do is have that be more than a talking-down, and really find a visual action narrative way to dramatize what that internality looks like. And I hope it resonates."

"The good thing is, in this world, there's a lot of trauma to be mined. They've gone through a lot. When you have a character like Bob, The Sentry and The Void, you know that's part of the story, and that's such a rich character. We talked to Paul Jenkins, who created it, and it always was meant to be a parable for mental health."

"So, we have to do something that plays in that world if we're going to be honest about who that character is. And then it becomes about, 'How do we tie the arcs of the other characters to be such that they fit with that antagonist?'"

It's an intriguing approach, and while it likely means we won't get some huge fight scene between the Thunderbolts and The Sentry, Schreier has set out to explore these characters in a way that differs from the norm.

That could explain why the movie is receiving so much praise and being hailed as unlike anything we've seen in the MCU before now. Remember, the review embargo lifts tomorrow at 12pm PT. 

In Thunderbolts*, Marvel Studios assembles an unconventional team of antiheroes - Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, Ghost, Taskmaster and John Walker. After finding themselves ensnared in a death trap set by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, these disillusioned castoffs must embark on a dangerous mission that will force them to confront the darkest corners of their pasts.

Will this dysfunctional group tear themselves apart, or find redemption and unite as something much more before it’s too late?

The cast of Thunderbolts* will be led by Florence Pugh as Yelena Boleva, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, and Lewis Pullman as "Bob."

Written by Eric Pearson, Lee Sung Jin, and Joanna Calo, and directed by Jake Schreier, Thunderbolts* is currently set to be released in theaters on May 2, 2025.

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harryba11zack
harryba11zack - 4/28/2025, 7:19 AM
puke is gonna give him a Hawk Tuah
kylo0607
kylo0607 - 4/28/2025, 7:31 AM
I've read the leaked plot and the Sentry stuff is... rough to say the least.

Have cancelled my booking for this Friday as the plot sounds like a convoluted mess and a complete joke. 2nd film in the MCU I won't be seeing at the cinema since 2008 (the other being The Marvels).

I was on the fence on seeing it as the marketing and premise never appealed to me, but reading the plot sealed the deal for me.

To those who are hyped about this, hope you enjoy it this weekend.

binky
binky - 4/28/2025, 7:43 AM
hate that JW spoils every film, he didn't even attempt to put spoiler warning on this, and yes i know the trailers haven't helped.
JoshWilding
JoshWilding - 4/28/2025, 7:46 AM
@binky - They're fighting The Sentry in LITERALLY every single trailer and TV spot. If you're this spoiler-phobic, get off the internet and never return.
MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 4/28/2025, 11:23 AM
@JoshWilding -

Do the trailers and TV spots say he is Sentry?
McMurdo
McMurdo - 4/28/2025, 12:15 PM
@JoshWilding - are these people just new? We've been doing this for damn near 2 decades.
binky
binky - 4/28/2025, 3:00 PM
@JoshWilding - look Mildred i know you can't take any criticism and 90% off you stuff is clickbait, does not mean you get to be rude, i mentioned the trailers. some of us had managed to avoid them. i mean you can write spoiler alert as you do in other articles. i don't see the point as your tittles give stuff away all the time, after all that clickbait money has to keep rolling in.
JoshWilding
JoshWilding - 4/28/2025, 3:17 PM
@McMurdo - Right? Is this the internet version of the “snowflake” generation people talk so much about? 😭
AllsGood
AllsGood - 4/28/2025, 7:47 AM
Thunderbolts* is just a few days away from arriving in theaters, and The Sentry's MCU debut continues to Generate Excitement among Fans. Marvel Studios is giving us a Sentry, Galactus and Silver Suffer so Much Win this Summer :)

User Comment Image
WhatIfRickJames
WhatIfRickJames - 4/28/2025, 8:09 AM
@AllsGood - User Comment Image
AllsGood
AllsGood - 4/28/2025, 8:15 AM
@WhatIfRickJames -
User Comment Image
kylo0607
kylo0607 - 4/28/2025, 8:19 AM
@AllsGood - Ah yes, completely forgot I still haven't blocked you.

Thanks for the reminder and welcome to The Void, sir!
AllsGood
AllsGood - 4/28/2025, 8:36 AM
@kylo0607 - Meet the Void "How Are They Supposed to Beat That Guy?

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AllsNotGood
AllsNotGood - 4/28/2025, 8:51 AM
@AllsGood - you recovered from your embarrassment
WhatIfRickJames
WhatIfRickJames - 4/28/2025, 9:04 AM
@AllsNotGood - And what an embarrassment that was... truly epic
vectorsigma
vectorsigma - 4/28/2025, 9:04 AM
@AllsNotGood - true. And possibly another one incoming
AllsGood
AllsGood - 4/28/2025, 9:15 AM
@AllsNotGood - Comic Book Movie Website Been Ruined by Wimps. But, But, But that's a Woman, Gay or Minority making White Men Look Bad.

User Comment Image
AllsNotGood
AllsNotGood - 4/28/2025, 12:54 PM
@WhatIfRickJames - User Comment Image
AllsNotGood
AllsNotGood - 4/28/2025, 12:56 PM
@vectorsigma - some people never learn.....that's unless this isn't an actual person
AllsNotGood
AllsNotGood - 4/28/2025, 12:56 PM
@AllsGood - User Comment Image
DocSpock
DocSpock - 4/28/2025, 8:01 AM

I am ignoring the naysayers. I am still hyped for this movie, and I will see it day one.

If it lets me down like FalCap BNW did, I can always go on a homicidal rampage later.
McMurdo
McMurdo - 4/28/2025, 12:16 PM
@DocSpock - samesies
MotherGooseUPus
MotherGooseUPus - 4/28/2025, 12:21 PM
@DocSpock - LOL! i dig it. let the rage out (maybe hulk should be like you). ive got my ticket for 9May so i will be away from the interwebs for the most part until then
DocSpock
DocSpock - 4/28/2025, 1:54 PM
@MotherGooseUPus -

Hulk should be savage Hulk, not wussy Ruffalo Hulk. Make real Hulk sad.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 4/28/2025, 8:08 AM
Going for more than a talkdown, talking to the creator of the character and tying the heroes arcs into the main plot device? That's what I wanna hear. That gets me even more hyped.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 4/28/2025, 8:19 AM
@bkmeijer1 - just going by the comments , I feel like this might be the toughest script we had from
Marvel in a bit tbh.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 4/28/2025, 8:30 AM
@TheVisionary25 - sounds like it. Really hope they manage nail it too. Because if so, then I can definitely believe it's the best movie since Endgame.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 4/28/2025, 8:32 AM
@bkmeijer1 - I hope they nail it too.

I’m excited to check this out!!.

Also I didn’t mean toughest but tightest script lol
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