Top Gun: Maverick and Lessons in Chemistry star Lewis Pullman was never meant to play the MCU's Sentry. Steven Yeun was originally cast in the role (marking a reunion with Beef director Jake Schreier), but 2023's strikes forced The Walking Dead star to drop out due to scheduling issues.
Having seen what Pullman did as Bob/The Sentry/The Void, it's fair to say that things panned out for the best. While Yeun would have likely done a terrific job, Pullman has put himself on the map with a star-making performance as the damaned superhero.
However, he very nearly made his Marvel debut years earlier.
For starters, Pullman auditioned for a lead role in Spider-Man: Homecoming a decade ago. Talking at the Thunderbolts* premiere, Marvel Studios Casting Director Sarah Finn revealed, "Lewis Pullman actually auditioned for me for the role of Ned Leeds in Spider-Man 10 years ago."
Jacob Batalon ultimately landed the role and played Ned in Avengers: Infinity War, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Meanwhile, Kristian Harloff caught up with Pullman and asked about rumours he was being eyed for a role in 2024's Kraven the Hunter. The actor didn't specify which character he auditioned to play, though we'd bet on it being Dmitri Smerdyakov, a.k.a. Chameleon.
Gladiator II star Fred Hechinger ended up playing Kraven's weird brother, and as with everyone else who starred in the movie, the doomed Sony Pictures project did his career no favours.
Pullman, at least, looks to have a bright future in the MCU thanks to Thunderbolts* *The New Avengers. Talking to GamesRadar+, he teased The Sentry's place in Avengers: Doomsday.
"I'm so excited because, you know, I had to kind of prepare myself for the possibility that this might just be a kind of one-and-done situation," Pullman enthused. "It's kind of like breaking open a whole new room, and being like, oh my god, [my] house is actually bigger, and now I get to figure out what I do with that space."
As for what we'll see from him in Doomsday, we can add Pullman to the list of actors who have yet to see a script. "I have no idea," he admitted. "I would love to spoil it..."
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?
"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."
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 now playing in theaters.