Steven Yeun's MCU Role As Sentry Is A Huge Leak For Marvel Studios
One of the more intriguing upcoming additions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe docket is "Thunderbolts," which will bring together various antagonists and anti-heroes from other MCU projects for a covert mission. While there will be plenty of familiar faces, there are bound to be some new ones, too, including Steven Yeun, whose role as the uber-powerful superhero Sentry was seemingly just confirmed.
Steven Yeun has long been rumored to play Sentry in "Thunderbolts," and confirmation of his involvement was clarified by Robert Kirkman, creator of "Invincible," another superhero project Yeun is attached to. When speaking with David Finch on YouTube, Kirkman let the cat out of the bag, saying, "My good friend Steven Yeun is playing the Sentry in a movie." He seemed unclear if he was supposed to divulge that information but then continued, "[Yeun] said, 'I just came back from a costume fitting for the Sentry. I guess I only do superheroes that are yellow and blue.'" It's a reference to the fact both Invincible and Sentry have superhero costumes with yellow and blue designs.
Yeun as Sentry was already heavily rumored, with plenty of people assuming it was a done deal. But Marvel Studios hadn't confirmed it, meaning they were perhaps wanting it to be a surprise down the road. And Kirkman's response may have let on more than he intended.
Audiences will likely see a fully-formed Sentry in Thunderbolts
"Thunderbolts" already sounds like it'll have an immense cast, and throwing Sentry into the mix is another ingredient that could push it over the edge. After all, in Marvel Comics, Sentry has the power of a million exploding suns, but no one remembers who he is, even when his archenemy, the Void, seeks him out. He recruits some other heroes and dons the mantle of Sentry to defeat his combatant, and in "Thunderbolts," he may look to recruit the likes of Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) and Red Guardian (David Harbour) to help him out ... assuming the two sides don't clash initially. It's also worth noting Sentry can be a good and bad guy, having saved and killed a bunch of people, so it'll be interesting to see what route "Thunderbolts" takes with him.
And Sentry likely isn't going to be a brief cameo based on what Robert Kirkman said. The fact Steven Yeun did a costume fitting likely means Sentry is going to suit up fully formed in "Thunderbolts" rather than introduce his alter-ego, Robert Reynolds, while setting up Sentry to appear in a future movie, which tends to happen in superhero flicks.
And while Sentry may have his famous costume, there's still the question of how much "Thunderbolts" will take from the comics for the character's origins. One popular fan theory suggests "Secret Invasion" laid the groundwork for the hero/villain, as the DNA from various Avengers could be transferred to one human to give him extraordinary powers. Sentry likely still holds plenty of surprises for his MCU debut, but for now, knowing a great actor like Steven Yeun is playing him is more than enough.