Robert Reynolds was a lonely man with a drug addiction. In hopes of getting his next fix, he haphazardly broke into a professor’s private laboratory and found something that looked quite similar to what he ultimately hoped to find. Not caring about the specifics of the liquid inside the vial, Reynolds guzzled it down in an instant and waited for all but a moment. Instead of just quenching his need to get high, the substance brought his body and mind to places he never thought possible. After all, he swallowed the Golden Sentry Serum. This formula was, in fact, a spin-off of the original Super Soldier Serum. Robert Reynolds was now one hundred thousand times stronger than Captain America and had the power of a million exploding suns.
With that introduction in the history books, it has been rumored that none other than Sentry will be the main villain in the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, Thunderbolts. Slated for a 2024 release, the anti-hero team-up will feature many characters that MCU fans are already familiar with. Some names include Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, David Harbour as the Red Guardian, Sebastian Stan as Buckey Barnes, and Wyat Russell as U.S. Agent. Led by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, playing the charmingly cold Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, the Thunderbolts will make their long-awaited debut by going on dangerous missions for the government. So, who will they go up against?
Introducing Sentry
Marvel Comics
The idea of so many fan-favorite side characters returning and coming together to take center stage in their own MCU movie is enough to get comic book fans excited. However, there was even more to unwrap concerning Thunderbolts in just the previous week.
Daniel Richtman, an entertainment industry insider, revealed through his Patreon that Marvel Studios is eyeing Ryan Gosling to play a comic-accurate version of Sentry, Marvel’s own version of Superman but with a twist. As noble as Reynolds wants to stand for, a terrible and evil force quietly lives within his own psyche called The Void.
The Two Sides of Sentry
Dating all the way back to biblical times, The Void was an immortal and sadistic monster that was birthed out of Sentry’s own dark side. This dark entity killed over a million people in New York City. Since Sentry is not able to deal with this burden of guilt, he calls on both Reed Richards and Doctor Strange to erase all parts of his own self out of all existence. While this is successful for a time, the same process has to be done once more when Reynold starts to remember his past life.
When Sentry remembers who he is for a third time, this is not for naught. He ends up stopping a prison breakout started by Electro and then killing Carnage by literally ripping the alien symbiote in half. Not only does Sentry take out the main antagonist from Venom: Let There Be Carnage with ease, but some time later on, Sentry unleashes another brutal assault on Ultron after hearing that the A.I was responsible for his wife’s death. For the enormous threat that the sentient robot was made out to be in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Sentry nearly decapitates the android in mere seconds before being stopped by Ms. Marvel.
These emotionally charged and violent responses are what initially sparked the Void’s creation as well. If the reports are true and the Thunderbolts are up against a single man who has the brute strength to destroy Carnage and Ultron, this team may not see past their first movie.
How Might the Thunderbolts Battle Sentry?
Marvel Studios
A particular storyline from the comics may very well become a crucial link between the Thunderbolt team and Sentry. Within the pages of The New Avengers’ first annual in 2006, Yelena Belova is looking for revenge against the team after a dangerous mission lands her in the hospital almost upon death’s door. She had to accept an offer from Hydra agents who healed her but, in turn, implanted her with the powers of the Super Adaptoid. In exchange, she was tasked with destroying the New Avengers.
Reaching their location, she uses her new-found set of abilities to mimic the powers of Sentry, who is also there. Before Hydra ends up completely subduing her with a fail-safe switch built within the android’s machinery due to the Void’s lingering threat, Belova, who now harnesses great power, decimates Captain Marvel and the original Sentry himself.
Considering the fact that none of the Thunderbolts can come anywhere close to Sentry’s power level, one would think that this fight would be over instantaneously, but surprisingly, Robert Reynolds is a man of deep emotions. Instead of facing stark truths and coming to terms with shattering events, he usually flees the scene, not wanting to face reality. Instead of letting the New Avengers invite him on their team, he vanished. When they tried to show him that his wife was alive, the statement was too much to bear, so he took flight. Mr. Reynolds ended up crying when telling various heroes of the Void’s impending arrival.
Sentry also ran away to another planet, Saturn, because The Void lied to him about the Skrull invasion being entirely his fault, a supposed consequence created by all the people who forgot him. If our team of anti-heroes has any chance of subduing this god-like character, they will have to put aside the physical fight (unless they can get their hands on a copycat ability) and take advantage of his traumatized sentimentalities. The Skrull invasion could come into play on the big screen since Secret Invasion is coming soon to Disney Plus.
Even though any scenario involving Sentry as the main antagonist would make Thunderbolts an undeniable hit at the box office, comic book fans cannot wait for the action-packed MCU film to hit theaters on July 26th, 2024.
