sentry

Movie Night: Thunderbolts* / The New Avengers

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Released: 2 May 2025
Director: Jake Schreier
Distributor: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Budget: $180 million
Stars: Florence Pugh, Lewis Pullman, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus

The Plot:
When Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Louis-Dreyfus) seeks to erase the evidence of her malicious experiments, she unwittingly assembles a rag-tag team of losers and mercenaries, led by Yelena Belova (Push), to stand against her and her secret superpowered agent…

The Background:
Back in the nineties, Marvel Comics were not just in a financial state but the “Onslaught Saga” led to some of their most popular characters being presumed dead for a while. In their place, Peter David created an all-new superhero team, the Thunderbolts, who debuted in 1997 as typically excessive heroes who were secretly the villainous Masters of Evil in disguise. The idea of bringing this concept to the blockbuster Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) can be traced back to the production of Guardians of the Galaxy (Gunn, 2014) when director James Gunn expressed interest in a big-screen adaptation. Although the idea was shelved when Warner Bros. produced a similar concept, it regained steam when MCU projects teased Valentina assembling a team of anti-heroes and soon evolved into a starring vehicle for Florence Pugh. Once officially announced, a tumultuous development began as rumours and script rewrites did the rounds, drastically altering key plot points and surprisingly offing one of the main cast for shock value. Writer Eric Pearson was keen to introduce Robert “Bob” Reynolds, arguably Marvel’s most notable Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman proxy, to tackle mental health issues like depression and addiction, with Lewis Pullman cast after scheduling conflicts forced Steven Yeun to back out. Much speculation surrounded the mysterious asterisk in the film’s title, which quickly saw Marvel re-branding the film to The New Avengers shortly after its release, as was always intended. While this bold decision divided some fans, Thunderbolts* was met with widespread critical acclaim and made over $382 million at the box office. Reviews praised the misfit action, Pugh’s elevation to a lead role, its exploration of depression, and the mixture of action and comedy, though many were dissatisfied with the unceremonious showing for Olga Kurylenko’s Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster.

The Review:
Although the marketing for Thunderbolts* had me believe that Junior Congressman and ex-Winter Soldier James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes (Stan) was the central character in this film, I was surprised and delighted to find that former Black Widow Yelena Belova takes the lead. In many ways, Thunderbolts* is as much a sequel to Black Widow (Shortland, 2021) as it is a continuation of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Skogland, 2021), reuniting Yelena with her eccentric and overbearing super soldier surrogate father, Alexei Shostakov/The Red Guardian (Harbour), delving a little more into Yelena’s backstory courtesy of some traumatic visits to a nightmare dimension known as the “void”, while also significantly building upon the character of disgraced military veteran and former Captain America turned hot-headed mercenary, John Walker/U.S. Agent (Russell). Still grieving the loss of her surrogate sister, Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Yelena begins the film in a place of apathy. Yelena now works as a black ops agent for Valentina, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) who’s currently under heavy investigation regarding all her shady experiments and dealings. However, despite throwing herself into her work and being an accomplished assassin, Yelena is unfulfilled and bored with the day-to-day mediocrity of her assignments. Feeling directionless and empty, she attempts to find some direction by talking through her feelings with Alexei, a disgraced and overweight former Soviet hero who’s left living in squalor and running a limo driving service. Despite his significant fall from grace and his boisterous personality, Alexei emphasises that the greatest calling he ever had was being an adored hero and encourages Yelena to step out of her comfort zone and take on a more public, heroic role like her late sister. Though hesitant, Yelena decides to give it a shot, if only to change her daily routine, and Valentina agrees to reassign her if she completes one last job. Namely, the infiltration of a secret underground O.X.E. facility that’s in danger of being robbed (and thus exposing Valentina’s dirty secrets) by Ava Starr/Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), a tortured soul who can become intangible for short bursts.

Although Taskmaster’s screen time gets cut short, Pugh steals the show with her layered performance.

However, when Yelena accesses the facility, she’s blindsided by Walker, who’s been contracted to kill her. Walker’s then attacked by master fighter Taskmaster, who’s been hired to kill him, and a four-way melee kicks off as they try to take each other out. Though Yelena immediately sees they’ve all been double-crossed, it takes the sudden, dramatic, and down-right insulting execution of Taskmaster for the fighting to stop. Well, that and the strange appearance of the anxious, confused, and seemingly harmless Bob after he was accidentally released from stasis. Though the pig-headed Walker is reluctant to believe Valentina would turn on him, he’s forced to begrudgingly work with the others to escape the facility, which first threatens to incinerate them and then trap them forever. Despite none of them having the powers or equipment to scale the impossibly large shaft, Bob suggests they clamber up back-to-back and, despite Walker’s selfish arrogance, the group fumbles their way to the surface. Unfortunately, Valentina’s long-suffering assistant, Mel (Geraldine Viswanathan), alerts her boss to their actions – and Bob’s presence – meaning the group are met by a heavily armed response team. Thanks to masquerading as Valentina’s goon squad, the group slip past the barricade, but the grateful and kind-hearted Bob decides to risk his life by covering their escape, resulting in him being peppered by bullets. Instead of dying, he emerges unscathed, blasts into the sky, and crashes to the ground with a massive explosion, inadvertently giving his newfound acquaintances the chance to escape and placing him in Valentina’s excited hands. Thanks to having chauffeured Valentina and Mel, Alexei races to retrieve them and excitedly encourages them to stick together as a team, accidentally nicknamed “Thunderbolts” after a passing mention of Yelena’s school sports team, though the group are less than enthusiastic about working together and are visibly disgusted at having had to rely on each other for so long.

Emotionally damaged Bob turns out to be perhaps the greatest threat the world has ever known…

While all this is going on, Bucky seeks to uncover concrete evidence to expose and impeach Valentina, working his charm on Mel to get the inside track and racing to rescue the group when Alexei’s limo is attacked. Despite Alexei’s joy at meeting a Soviet hero and fellow super soldier, Bucky takes no chances and binds the group, seeking to have them testify against Valentina, but is forced to cut them loose and join forces with them when Mel corroborates their wild claims about Bob. As indicated by paperwork found in the facility, the seemingly unassuming Bob is actually a neurotic and emotionally unstable drug addict and survivor of horrific childhood abuse who, in a desperate attempt to feel powerful and significant, signed up to one of Valentina’s secret drug trials. While all the other subjects died, Bob became a full-blown indestructible superman, capable of flight and exhibiting awesome psychic powers, though his dark side also received a superhuman boost. With a touch, or at his command, Bob sends targets to the void, a dark dimension where they relive their most painful memories. However, Valentina brainwashes Bob with platitudes and strokes his fragile ego, promising to make him the world’s mightiest superhero in the absence of the Avengers and having him become the Sentry. While Bob is reluctant to turn on his newfound friends, he embraces the chance to be more than an insignificant nobody, but quickly becomes drunk on his power, rejecting Valentina’s orders and seeking to take the world for himself. While Mel puts the Sentry down with a kill switch, this merely suppresses Bob’s neurotic (but nonetheless harmless) personality and unleashes his dark side, the Void, who impassively terrorises New York City to plunge humanity into a glorious nothingness. Despite being powerless against the Sentry and going their separate ways, the chaos inspires the reluctant Thunderbolts to save civilians and rally against the Void, with Yelena desperate to appeal to Bob’s humanity by willingly returning to the void and facing his dark past.

While Valentina is a deplorable puppet master, the misfit team is their own worst enemy.

Although Valentina is gleefully presented as a despicable and thoroughly unlikeable villain, I do think she suffered from not featuring more prominently in previous Marvel movies as a dark counterpart to Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). Luckily, the titular Thunderbolts are all largely dislikeable or morally dubious characters and their bickering and in-fighting means they’re their own worst enemies. Indeed, it’s only the fact that they have a common enemy that the group sets aside their egos and dislike of each other to even work together, though Bucky and Alexei go a long way to galvanising the team. Still, “dysfunctional” is putting it mildly when it comes to these guys, especially considering how abrasive and unlikeable Walker is. His temper and arrogance paint him as a typical jock, but he undergoes a surprising redemption arc throughout as he tries to atone for his past and turn his life around. Though sadly not featured as prominently as she should be, Ghost seems to carry some guilt about murdering Taskmaster and, despite frequently clashing with Walker, sticks with the group simply because she’s lived so much of her life alone. As Alexei observes, Yelena feels the same emptiness lifted thanks to the team’s presence. Despite them constantly butting heads, she takes a leadership role and is constantly the voice of reason amongst them, pushing them to focus on their true enemy and to do some good for a change. Naturally, Alexei enjoys the chance to be a hero once more and Harbour’s enthusiastic and bombastic energy really cements Thunderbolts* as one of the best MCU movies of the modern era. Finally, there’s Bucky, a guy who seems uncomfortable in his political role and who immediately reverts to type the first chance he gets. Without a doubt, though, this is Bob’s show as, through him, the MCU tackles the serious and soul-crushing weight of abuse and depression and forces it to the forefront as he discovers, masters, and then loses himself to his incredible powers.

The Nitty-Gritty:
Unfortunately, despite the film’s marketing, Taskmaster really got the shaft here, she appeared onscreen for one fight, gets one line, and then is suddenly executed with little to no fanfare. Yelena basically shrugs it off since she’s so impassive and Taskmaster is barely brought up afterwards, which is a shame as her new suit was cool and I would’ve liked to see her character get a shot at redemption. They could’ve at least had her live until the team escaped the facility, perhaps have Bob accidentally obliterate her in his first unexpected show of power. Similarly, I’m not sure what the benefit of having Bucky be a congressman was if it was going to be dropped immediately. Nothing he did tied into that role and he could’ve worked Mel and helped his fellow congressman (Wendell Pierce) without having a political role. While it was also a shame we never got to see how the others fared in the void, it did provide some additional tragedy to Yelena (who was forced to see her fellow Black Widow recruits tortured and killed during her training) and touched upon the shame that fuels Walker and explains his brash personality. The void truly shines when exploring Bob’s traumatic past, however, as Yelena witnesses Bob’s father emotionally and physically abuse him, his drug addict mother shun him, and briefly witnesses his own struggles with addiction. When in his default personality, Bob talks about how he sometimes has highs and then suffers crushing lows that drove him towards drink and meth but also, seemingly to the point where he didn’t care if he lived or died. This led him to Valentina’s “Sentry Project”, which remarkably made him everything she hoped for, but also empowered his dark thoughts and made him extremely emotionally unstable. Seeing Bob wallow in his childhood bedroom (the quietest, nicest room in the void as long as you don’t mind seeing and hearing your parents fight and belittle you) was heart wrenching and Pullman really ran the gamut of emotions in his portrayal of Bob.

Amidst the action and banter, there’s a chilling and emotional exploration of depression.

This culminates in a spectacular (if brief) display of power from the Sentry in the former Avengers Tower. Garbed in a golden outfit and showcasing superhuman speed and strength, the Sentry easily overpowers his friends, with even the super soldiers barely making Bob flinch and him overwhelming them all while appearing bored. His transformation into the Void is equally impressive, with Pullman being enveloped in darkness. He speaks in a hushed, impassive tone, with only his silvery eyes glittering from the darkness, and sends targets to the void with a wave of his hand in a chilling visual. While much of Thunderbolts* revolves around the rag-tag team trying to co-exist without killing each other, the group finds a common language in combat. Despite them all pretty much just punching and shooting, each brings something a little different, such as Walker wielding his shield, Bucky utilising his mechanical arm, and Ghost phasing in and out of reality. Although Walker scoffs at Yelena taking charge of the group and a combination of bad luck and miscommunication means their plans often fail or quickly fall apart, the group fights well together. Crucially, when the Void envelops the city, these largely selfish anti-heroes don’t hesitate to jump in and save who they can, leading the crowd to safety and earning their appreciation, much to Alexei’s delight and the others’ surprise. Action-packed moments like Bucky’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day (Cameron,1991) style motorcycle intervention, the team storming Valentia’s tower, and their ill-fated showdown with the Sentry are juxtaposed with some fun humour and banter and some poignant moments, particularly between the grieving and emotional Yelena and Alexei. Angry at her “father” for not staying in touch more and still struggling after Natasha’s death, Yelena breaks down in Alexei’s arms at how lonely she is and he does his best to comfort he, just as Yelena finds a kindred spirit in Bob, whom she senses is both lonely and damaged and in need to help and reassurance.

These unlikely heroes step up to meet the challenge when the Void engulfs the city in darkness.

This, as much as her inherent heroic nature, is what drives Yelena to stop running from the Void and willingly return to his dark dimension. There, she ignores her own traumatic past and desperately searches for Bob, eager to appeal to his reason, and discovers the sheer depth of his emotional trauma. Having resigned himself to the void and feeling as powerless to fight it as he was to stand up to his parents, Bob is reluctant to stand against his dark side and, though bolstered by Yelena’s genuine concern, is touched when the rest of the team brave their nightmares to reunite with them. At Yelena’s suggestion, Bob brings them to the worst “room” in the void, the place where he was transformed into a superhuman, and the team discovers that the effect on his psyche was near instantaneous. They also encounter the Void, a spiteful and all-powerful force that belittles Bob, tortures his friends, and maliciously mocks Bob’s insecurities. When Bob lashes out in anger, attacking the Void and mercilessly beating him, Yelena sees that this threatens to erase his compassionate side altogether and, despite the environment itself trying to stop her, she rushes not to stop or kill Bob, but to embrace him. The others do the same, embracing their damaged comrade and affirming their belief in him and their showcase of affection is enough to quiet the Void, returning everyone lost to the darkness and leaving Bob seemingly with no memory of what happened (and, sadly, no longer wearing his awesome Sentry suit). In the aftermath, the group seeks retribution upon Valentina, only to be blindsided when she leads them into a press conference and introduces them as the New Avengers. Though Valentina’s dismayed when the group begrudgingly accept the moniker (and when Yelena asserts dominance over her), she accepts the compromise as it means she can remain in a position of power. Unfortunately, the credits and post-credit scenes immediately deride the unlikely new Avengers, with headlines and news stories questioning them and even Sam Wilson/Captain America (Anthony Mackie) said to be suing them over the name! Still, the team relishes the chance to prove their credentials when they receive word of a strange, extradimensional craft entering Earth’s atmosphere…

The Summary:
I purposely avoiding using any spoiler warnings for this film, and including both titles, since Marvel Studios let the cat out of the bag just a few days after its release. While I was surprised to see the team be revealed as the New Avengers, it was a pretty fun way to end the movie, though I do wonder how prominent the team will be in the sixth phase of the MCU considering how packed the slate is. Regardless, Thunderbolts* was a surprisingly good time. I say “surprisingly” as the team has very little to do with their comic book counterparts and I wasn’t expecting all that much of it, especially after we had two similarly themed DC movies, but it turned out to be very entertaining and surprisingly touching. As a deconstruction of mental illness, Thunderbolts* (more specifically Lewis Pullman) knocks it out of the park, with Bob perfectly encapsulating the insecurities, incredible highs, and soul-destroying lows of depression. While he’s apathetic as the Sentry, Bob is chillingly impassive as the Void and so powerful that he completely neuters his more reasonable side. I also loved how Yelena came to the forefront here as a leader and her own search for meaning, and the evolution of her relationship with Alexei. While it was a damn shame Taskmaster got shafted, I would’ve liked to see Valentina used more leading up to the film, and I was hoping for more Bucky, I really enjoyed the dysfunctional team dynamic and how even an asshole like U.S. Agent could turn his life around with the right motivation. Thunderbolts* was a definitely step in the right direction for the MCU and I’m excited to see how its events will impact future MCU movies, especially regarding the Sentry, and I would absolutely say it’s a must-see for fans of this sprawling cinematic universe.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

What did you think to Thunderbolts* and the surprise reveal of the film’s true nature? Were you disappointed that a more comic accurate team wasn’t used? What did you think of the unceremonious execution of Taskmaster? Were you impressed by the Sentry and the film’s discussion of mental health? What do you hope is next for the team in the MCU? Tell me your rating of Thunderbolts* in the comments, support me on Ko-Fi, and go check out my other Marvel content.

Back Issues: The Sentry #1-5 / The Sentry vs. The Void #1

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Writer: Paul Jenkins – Artist: Jae Lee

Story Title: “Act 1: The Suit”
Published: 19 July 2000 (cover-dated: September 2000)

Story Title: “Act 2: The Unicorn”
Published: 16 August 2000 (cover-dated: October 2000)

Story Title: “Act 3: The Photograph”
Published: 20 September 2000 (cover-dated: November 2000)

Story Title: “Act 4: The Conspiracy”
Published: 18 October 2000 (cover-dated: December 2000)

Story Title: “Act 5: The Betrayal”
Published: 15 November 2000 (cover-dated: January 2001)

Story Title: “The Truth”
Published: 31 January 2001 (cover-dated: February 2001)

The Background:
Debuting in 1938, Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman wasn’t just an immediate hit with readers, he was also the first-ever costumed superhero, inspiring every single colourful crimefighter that came after him. Oddly, despite co-creating and bringing to life some of the industry’s most recognisable and beloved characters, Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee struggled to emulate the success of the Man of Steel. Over the years, many Marvel characters have been positioned as the company’s parallel to Superman, with none really making much of an impact. Robert “Bob” Reynolds/The Sentry, however, is perhaps the closest Marvel came to this endeavour. First conceived of by Paul Jenkins and Rick Veitch back in the late-1990s, the Sentry was pitched as an over-the-hill superhero struggling with addiction and was cleverly positioned as a “forgotten” hero from Marvel history. Easily one of Marvel’s most overpowered heroes, the Sentry was also a figurehead for mental illness thanks to his drug addiction and psychotic split personality, though this often led to him being seen an aggravating and inconsistent character. Despite some bad-ass moments and turning the tide in many conflicts due to his awesome power and unpredictable nature, Marvel’s insistence of reverting to the status quo meant the character has had more downs than ups over the years, to the point of fading from the spotlight. Indeed, as of this writing the Sentry has only ever appeared in supporting roles in Marvel videogames, with no animated appearances to his name, though the character did make the jump to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, courtesy of Lewis Pullman, in 2025.

The Review:
We first meet Bob Reynolds when he’s awoken by a lightning storm that triggers memories of an aggressive alien menace known as “The Void”. After reassuring his wife, Lindy Lee-Reynolds, Bob retrieves a bottle of liquid and is haunted by scattered memories that emulate the art style of the legendary Jack Kirby. Through them, we learn that a young, naïve Bob stumbled upon the mysterious “Professor’s” secret serum and drank it, fashioning a golden costume and blue cape and fighting both crime and supervillains as “The Sentry”. As Bob struggles to reconcile these memories, torn between them being fanciful delusions made from a comic book and real-life recollections of his battles against the Void alongside the Avengers, he remembers dispelling the Void with “the power of a million exploding suns” and the shadowy villain’s vow to return one day. Plagued by self-doubt, Bob’s memories shift to a decidedly darker, more Frank Miller-esque style as the Professor runs down his strengths and weaknesses. The serum supercharged his molecules, causing each atom to be slightly out of shift with time, granting him a “hyperstate of consciousness” and rendering him functionally immortal thanks to the power of the Sun. His only weakness was that his powers were tied to the serum, though the Sentry ignored the Professor’s warnings of him becoming addicted to the drug in favour of saving the galaxy from the Void. Desperate to regain a more coherent sense of himself and to be “vigilant” once more, Bob swigs from the serum and is immediately wracked by pain and spasms. Visions of the Void see Bob branded a common junkie and lectured about the emptiness of life so, when Lindy discovers him delirious and with an empty botte nearby, she naturally assumes he’s fallen off the wagon. Refusing to see her lover destroy himself before her eyes, Lindy walks out, leaving Bob to fool himself into thinking he’s slipping back into his costume and answering “the Sentry Signal” when, in reality, he’s simply put on a jacket with a crude cape pegged to the back! Still, he can fly, at the very least, so he heads to New York City (vaguely remembering when the Void reduced Manhattan to a smouldering crater) and is confronted by Doctor Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic. Though Bob speaks to Mr. Fantastic as an old friend, Reed has no idea who he is, though the word “unicorn” triggers something in the curious adventurer.

Triggered by cloudy memories, Bob tries to reconnect with a world that’s forgotten his heroics.

While Bob remembers Lindy accepting his superhero life right before their wedding, Mr. Fantastic talks the incident over with his family, perturbed by the sudden appearance of a golden unicorn that Bob gifted to Reed, who was his best friend. Disturbed and curious, Reed discovers a VHS tape in the unicorn that contains a warning from himself about the Void, but the tape explodes before the Fantastic Four learn anything tangible. Meanwhile, Bob (who “becomes” the Sentry the more he recalls his fragmented past, with his rudimentary costume even being revitalised) visits Doctor Robert Bruce Banner/The Hulk. Unlike the others, the Hulk remembers “Golden Man” as his “best amigo”, though Bob is disturbed to find the Green Goliath hasn’t evolved past his savage, childlike demeanour. Bob shares his concerns regarding a conspiracy surrounding him and convinces the Hulk to stand by him when the Void returns. Bob then meets Peter Parker/Spider-Man, who doesn’t remember Bob, sees only a blank piece of paper when Bob shows him a photograph he once took of the Sentry, and brands Bob a “fruitcake”. However, as he goes to leave, Bob begs Spidey to investigate further. As the world is thrown into turmoil, Peter’s memory is jogged after he confirms that multiple publications have been excised from public record. Additionally, Doctor Stephen Strange confirms the Void’s threat to Reed and, though he refuses to elaborate, he does magically conjure a memory of the Fantastic Four and Dr. Strange erasing everyone’s memories of the Sentry and Reed forcing Dr. Strange to keep that information hidden. Bob has a psychic parlay with Professor Charles Xavier/Professor X, causing Professor X’s memories resurface, and the X-Men to be put on alert. Similarly, Anthony “Tony” Stark/Iron Man remembers the Sentry, leading Bob to fly into a tirade about how he inspired all the world’s superheroes and was simply forgotten. Bob remembers that the Avengers staged an intervention regarding his overreliance on the serum and the lingering threat of the Void, with all begrudgingly agreeing that the Sentry, despite his many good deeds, should disappear. Since Tony stood up for him, Bob begs him to get the others onboard before flying to a desolate area of the city, his impressive super suit finally reformed. He returns to his long-forgotten fortress, the Watchtower, while his scarred and disabled former sidekick, Billy Turner/Scout, awakens from a disturbing nightmare.

Despite fragmented memories of betrayal, the Sentry rallies to oppose the Void’s return.

Inside the Watchtower, the Sentry reunites with its Centrally Located Organic Computer/C.L.O.C. to investigate a subliminal message being transmitted around the world by a small, bug-like transmitter that’s powered by the same serum that gives the Sentry his incredible abilities. Thanks to a “self-modifying loop virus”, C.L.O.C. cannot directly aid the Sentry without being destroyed, so the Sentry disables the crude device himself. This leads to a brief and near imperceptible shift in the fabric of reality and, suddenly, kids discover their Sentry memorabilia, Billy finds his old costume, and people are filled first with relief at remembering their hero…and then horror as they also remember the Void. They also remember the Sentry dying in battle (at least, as far as the public were concerned), marking the end of a “Golden Age” of heroes. This event also sees the Sentry remembering Reed condemn him as a traitor and a criminal, claiming that Bob accepted bribes from the criminal underworld to fund his addictions and then mislead the public into thinking he was a hero while also profiting from his violent impulses. Angered at this betrayal and slander, the Sentry reconciles with a remorseful Lindy, only for her to be attacked and threatened by the Void. Gleefully, the Void spitefully monologues about his scheme to bathe the world in darkness and devour every living soul in the universe, saving his hated foe until last just to make him suffer. With that, the Void tosses Lindy aside and conjures an alarming and devastating hurricane out at sea that threatens the mainland. The Sentry makes a quick public address to announce his return, protest his innocence, and warn that the storm signals the return of the Void. After calling for a mass evacuation, the Sentry pleads with his superpowered cohorts to stand by his side once more against the threat on Liberty Island. Though he’s uncharacteristically afraid, the Hulk is the first to arrive out of gratitude for all the support the Sentry once showed him. Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Avengers, and all the city’s costumed protectors then arrive soon after, alongside Billy Turner. When Mr. Fantastic arrives, the Sentry berates him for his betrayal, though Reed’s still got some gaps in his memory and is adamant that he’d never betray his best friend like that.

A remorseful Bob is forced to sacrifice his reputation to keep the Sentry, and the Void, forgotten.

Faced with the Void’s pending arrival and the potential end of the world, the Sentry steels himself, with friends and foes at his back, for the assault. The Void attacks with “infinitendrils” that sap even the Sentry’s abilities and confidence. The trinkets the Sentry gifted to his allies barely keep them from succumbing to the Void’s influence and unnamed heroes and untold civilians die as the Void’s attack decimates the city. During the chaos. Dr. Strange prompts Reed to remember when the Void attacked Manhattan in the past, causing catastrophic damage and leaving a pile of slaughtered bodies in his wake, only for Susan Storm/The Invisible Woman to discover the Void and the Sentry were one and the same! In the face of the Void’s destructive power, which left a million people dead, and faced with a man they’d known and respected and could clearly see was suffering a psychotic episode that manifested in a separate personality, Reed and Bob came up with a plan. After Bob shared his concerns about himself and admitted to his addiction, the two constructed the hypnotic transmitters to ensure that no one, not even Bob, would remember the Sentry, thus keeping the Void at bay.  Thus, at Bob’s insistence, the Sentry’s death was faked, his funeral staged, and his reputation tarnished to ensure that the people who loved and admired him so much would submit to the hypnosis. In the present, the physical and existential battle between the Sentry and the Void rages, breaking even the Hulk’s super-tough body, until Reed intervenes. Although the Void whispers poison in Bob’s ear, fuelling his confusion and anger, Reed triggers Bob’s memories, much to the Void’s anger. Desperate to live and to wreak havoc, the Void threatens to take full control of Bob’s body, so the Sentry rushes back to C.LO.C. alongside his allies. After a moment’s hesitation, the Sentry orders C.L.O.C to reactivate the transmitter and Bob gets a brief moment to reconcile with his best friend before their memories are wiped. In the aftermath, the devastation is blamed on a “temporal anomaly” and Bob returns to his mundane life with Lindy. However, when they stop for a bite and are served by Billy, a flash of a memory suggests the Sentry may not be completely forgotten…

The Summary:
This was my first time reading the Sentry’s debut story arc and I was quite excited to get into it. I don’t know much about the Sentry, but I remember his debut being quite a big deal and have seen it being talked about, and seen him pop up in a few crossover events and such, so I was eager to get into this and see if it lived up to the hype. Unfortunately, I really don’t think it did and I was left a bit disappointed. For starters, it bugged me that the story wasn’t contained in a five or six-issue arc. Instead, we have five issues laying the foundation for the Sentry and the Void, a couple of team-up stories that take between #5 and The Sentry vs. The Void #1, and that standalone resolution to the arc. This was a story clearly written for trade collections, which is fine on paper as that’s my preferred way to read comics, but it’s pretty damn arrogant of Marvel Comics to assume that people are going to be this heavily invested in their brand-new superhero right off the bat. Luckily, the central concept has a lot of legs to it, and I did enjoy the story as a very different, more cerebral superhero tale. It’s always engaging and interesting when comic books are more than just big superhero fights or cosmic events, and the Sentry’s debut definitely delves more into the psychological thriller genre as Bob, Reed, and the reader try to piece together the truth about this strange and apparently forgotten character. The mystery of the Void was equally well done and I liked that he was perceived as a world (well, universe) ending threat and the sense of desperation behind him. The idea that someone or something was so dangerous to all life that even the Avengers and the Fantastic Four blurred their morals to erase the minds of everyone in the world is very powerful and still holds up now, even knowing the truth about the two.

The Sentry is a bit of a Gary Stu and changes long-running aspects of Marvel continuity.

I liked that Bob is presented as an out of shape everyman. He’s a nobody whose wife barely seems to tolerate him and who’s haunted by nightmares and faded memories that could just as easily be comic books he read as a kid. When something (it’s not clear what) triggers the revival of the Void, Bob’s ordinary life is turned upside down and his body undergoes a slow and dramatic change upon drinking the mysterious serum that makes him an all-powerful demigod. I’m not sure how this transforms his costume or why a simple potion can give him such incredible power, but Bob’s memories, personality, and sense of self worth return the more he indulges in the serum and the more he meets with his old allies. Even his physical appearance changes, returning him to the superman physique he enjoyed in his prime, and his trip down memory lane changes many preconceptions of existing Marvel heroes. The Sentry is said to be the “first” costumed superhero, the one who inspired all the others, and his deeds were almost incalculable. He tamed the Hulk, was best friends with Reed Richards, scored Peter Parker his first Pulitzer Prize, and saved the world countless times. Indeed, this debut story goes out of its way to really hammer home that the Sentry was the bastion of all that’s good in the world, that no one could compare to him, and that he was the example others lived by. He had an elaborate headquarters in the heart of New York City, a kid sidekick, and all kinds of gadgets, making him very much a child’s perfect amalgamation of what makes a good superhero. It’s a bit grating, to be honest, primarily because we don’t really get to see any of the Sentry’s past deeds. We simply hear people talk about them and how great he is, with little evidence to back it up since even Bob barely remembers fact from fiction. Equally, we never get to see any of the Sentry’s incredible and much-touted powers beyond a few brief glimpses. Sure, he can fly and take a hit, but I’m not sure what “the power of a million exploding suns” means or how it scales with, say, the Hulk or Thor Odinson.

A unique and engaging story, but one that didn’t live up to its full potential for me.

I really enjoyed the panels that reflected other artists and key eras in comic book history. They went a long way to keeping up the ruse that the Sentry was a long-forgotten hero from Marvel’s glory days, dusted off and reinserted into mainstream continuity. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that we should’ve gotten more of these. They could’ve helped flesh out Bob’s backstory and past exploits, his relationship with Billy, and maybe retroactively insert him into key moments in Marvel history. Instead, they’re just fun panels that don’t live up to their potential, which is a shame. While you could argue that the mystery surrounding the Void, how stubbornly cagy Dr. Strange was and how fragmented records were, hinted towards the final reveal as much as Bob’s obvious unstable mental state, I think it landed really well. There’s a degree of responsibility on the reader’s part to understand that things aren’t quite what they seem. When the heroes assemble to help repel the Void in the finale, they’re not necessarily standing with the Sentry against the oncoming storm. Instead, they’re observing him violently lashing out as the Void reasserts control. While I would’ve liked more panels devoted to the destruction, it’s painted as the greatest threat the world has ever seen and one that the heroes are unable to stop through conventional means. It’s only by appealing to the man they once knew that the heroes manage to contain the Void once more, convincing Bob to make the ultimate sacrifice one more time since his powers and mentality are too unstable to be trusted. It’s a very unusual and dramatic end to a superhero story and paints the Sentry as a very fragile and complex character, one who would continue to suffer from his mental health issues and addictions in subsequent appearances. Unfortunately, I do feel the execution was a bit lacking and the story didn’t quite live up to its full potential. This seems par for the course with the Sentry, who doesn’t seem all that relevant these days, which is also a shame as I really think there’s something here and that it’s a very unique way to introduce a new superhero and supervillain.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

What did you think to the Sentry’s debut story, and the character in general? Were you surprised and excited by the unusual depiction of the character? Did you guess that the Sentry and the Void were the same person or was it a surprise for you? What did you think to the Sentry being retroactively inserted into Marvel continuity? Do you agree that the story fell a little flat in the end or were you intrigued to see more? What are some of your favourite moments involving the Sentry? Which of Marvel’s Superman knock-offs is your favourite? Whatever your thoughts on the Sentry, leave a comment below, support me on Ko-Fi, and check out my other Marvel content on the site.