Commentary: The Sentry Of ‘Thunderbolts*’ Was The Best Fans Were Going To Get
by Frank Martin
In the stable of Marvel characters, The Sentry might be the most difficult to adapt. Created by Paul Jenkins, Jae Lee, and Rick Veitch, the character first premiered after an interesting and very meta marketing campaign. It’s almost impossible to do a true adaptation of him within the framework of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. To do so would involve rewriting the history of the universe’s canon in addition to playing around with film in a very meta way. However, Sentry as a character could still be of use within the MCU. So while fans of the character might be disappointed with how he was presented, the version presented in Thunderbolts* was, perhaps, the best fans were going to get.
The Sentry — aka Bob (Lewis Pullman) — is the only true original character in Thunderbolts*. The film revolves around various operatives who work Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). This includes Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell), and Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh). Val led them to a vault in the hopes of taking them all out at once, but things become complicated when the mysterious man Bob awakens inside the vault. It turns out he was a successful test subject for a science experiment called Project Sentry, which Valentina hoped would create a new superhero for America.
The Sentry’s origin in the comics plays out over several series. This includes the original Sentry miniseries, as well as New Avengers and a follow-up mini series. He was depicted as an original creation of Stan Lee who the world had forgotten because whenever he used his powers he brought the Void with him. It would have been immensely complicated to fit this meta and loose backstory into the existing MCU. Instead, all of the meta nature surrounding the Sentry was abandoned in favor of a straightforward character. Nevertheless, a lot of the Sentry’s character elements still remain, such as his battles with anxiety and his dark side taking over. There is still room to do a true Sentry adaptation outside of the MCU, but for now, this version works within that universe and fans shouldn’t be disappointed.
Thunderbolts* is now in theaters.