The comic book version of The Sentry has a complicated past. He debuted in 2000's Sentry #1 by Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee, and the danger posed by The Void—both in the past and present—led to Robert Reynolds having to make the world forget he existed...twice.
The character eventually returned in the pages of Brian Michael Bendis' New Avengers, only for The Void to once again rear its ugly head (leaving Thor with no other choice than to kill the Golden Guardian during Siege).
Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier and actor Lewis Pullman turned to those early Sentry comics for inspiration, but there was one element the filmmaker knew wouldn't be a good fit for The Sentry's MCU debut.
"Obviously, we couldn’t tell that same story because of Spider-Man: No Way Home," he told Marvel.com of the notion that the world might have forgotten about The Sentry's existence. "Thanks, Jon," he added with a laugh, referring to his college roommate and fellow director.
"It’s interesting reading that run," Schreier continued. "When we talked to Paul Jenkins, he would talk about it as a parable for mental health and this idea of an equal amount of good and evil. But when I read Sentry in those comics, there is this level of hubris that he has, and it feels like people around him are getting a little concerned about it. I thought it was so resonant."
Pullman, meanwhile, confirmed that this version of The Sentry doesn't have a split personality quite in the same way as his comic book counterpart.
"We wanted to make sure it wasn’t so compartmentalized, that it was always clear that it was one person," the actor says of Bob, The Sentry, and The Void. "It was never this code-switching, or this kind of lily pad–hopping to a completely different person. They are all qualities and parts of one person."
That likely explains [SPOILER WARNING] why Bob ultimately remembered what happened when he became The Sentry, as he references being unable to use his powers without potentially freeing The Void during Thunderbolts*'s post-credits scene.
It's unclear what the future holds in store for the hero, though all signs point to him joining his fellow New Avengers to take the fight to Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday next year. That means he'll have to suit up again, potentially creating a secondary threat for Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
"Thunderbolts* redefines superhero storytelling to deliver a moving and powerful story that does for the 'Multiverse Saga' what The Avengers did for the 'Infinity Saga' in 2012," we said in our review. "These heroes have earned their place on a Wheaties box."
Thunderbolts* is now playing in theaters.