Lewis Pullman earned an Emmy nomination for his work in Lessons in Chemistry, but the actor puts himself on the map in a big way with Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts*.
His performance as Bob/The Sentry/The Void is superb, and the movie leaves the character in an interesting place when the credits roll. Thanks to the Thunderbolts, he manages to overcome the darkness within, but appears to have no memory of his journey through The Void.
However, in a post-credits scene set 14 months later, Bob is staying with the New Avengers and acknowledges that he can't risk transforming into The Sentry without potentially also unleashing The Void.
Talking to Josh Horowitz, Pullman was asked about The Sentry's power set and where he ranks among the rest of Earth's Mightiest Heroes...as Earth's new Mightiest Hero.
"I think it's almost a topic that hasn't really been breached as much as you would think," the actor said. "It's sort of a 'When we get there, we'll talk about it' kinda situation. It does feel pretty limitless. I'm so curious to see what his future holds. In a lot of the comics, he sequestered himself into solitude, and there's a lot of erasing memories in order to allow the continuation of Marvel."
"I think that we'll see, and it depends on who he's up against, what state of mind he's in, and what support he has around him."
Pullman also revealed that, as the Thunderbolts go to confront Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, there was originally a moment that alluded to Bob remembering more of what happened in The Void than he let on to the team.
"There was a line that was cut...I say to Yelena, 'So, do any of you guys fly, or do all of you just punch and shoot?' She looks at me like, 'Oh wait, do you know that you're referencing something you experienced? Do you actually remember something?' I think we took that out because we could sell it without something so on the nose. There are slivers of memory peeking through."
The Sentry actor also reflected on shooting the big moment where Val announces the Thunderbolts as the "New Avengers" to the world.
"It was an interesting thing to shoot that sequence where they all get applauded at the end because we were like, 'Does Bob stand there and does he receive the applause or does he step aside and applause with everybody?'"
"We all agreed that it made more sense," Pullman continued, "and we didn't know what the future held for Bob, that he'd think, 'Obviously, they're not talking about me.' It's an interesting thing to tiptoe around, and I'm as curious as anybody."
"We had to shoot that two different ways because we had so many background actors who were there. It was a potential leak risk. We shot it where Valentina said 'the Thunderbolts,' and then they all left, and they turned it around on us, and she said her actual line with a locked and sealed, secure set. It was pretty amazing," he added.
Bob will return in Avengers: Doomsday alongside his fellow New Avengers, but Pullman is currently in the dark when it comes to his MCU future.
"The only thing that I've read is what we've shot already, which is technically the teaser at the end of Thunderbolts*," the Top Gun: Maverick star confirmed. "Technically, that is a part of Doomsday. That was shot by the Russo Brothers. All I know is that Bob is in a state of idle hibernation."
He added, "I think the Thunderbolts don't want to let him go because they don't know what kind of havoc he'll wreak, but they also want to keep him in case they might have a use for him in the future."
The Sentry is bound to take on Doctor Doom, though there's a risk that Bob will be used as a way of showing how powerful the villain is rather than keeping him a major player heading into Avengers: Secret Wars.
Still, given the positive response to Bob and how complex a character he is, we're sure the Rssos have something exciting planned for the Golden Guardian.
Thunderbolts* is now playing in theaters. You can watch the full interview with Pullman below.