Thunderbolts SDCC Footage Teases Lewis Pullman Is the Sentry

Marvel’s next superhero team couldn’t be more different from the Avengers. Instead of Captain America and Hawkeye, they have U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell) and Red Guardian (David Harbour). Instead of Black Widow, they have Florence Pugh’s White Widow. Instead of Iron Man, they have Ant-Man and the Wasp antagonist, Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen).

In other words, Thunderbolts are a team full of B- and C-listers, baddies and supporting characters from other movies and shows who get assembled into a team by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, the shady CIA director played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Even though they don’t command the same name recognition as Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, the Thunderbolts are at least familiar to MCU fans. Well, except for one. The character played by Lewis Pullman who, at this point, only goes by Bob. However, there is good reason to believe that “Bob” is short for Robert Reynolds, the man known as Sentry. And if you haven’t heard of the Sentry, well… that’s the point.

The Power of One Million Shouting Fans

Den of Geek‘s Alec Bojalad was on the scene during the Marvel Studios panel in Hall H on Saturday night. As such, he’s one of the few people who’s seen the first teaser for Thunderbolts, which has not yet been released to the public.

The sizzle reel features lots of misunderstandings and squabbles between the various members, which also include the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) and Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) from Black Widow. Furthermore, one scene finds the various members coming together in a room, where a box opens to reveal Pullman’s Bob in a hospital gown. When the Thunderbolts ask Bob who sent him, he responds with confusion. He doesn’t remember being sent at all.

These descriptions suggest that Bob is another nervous but likable character for Pullman, much like the Bob he played in Top Gun: Maverick. But his name and the general confusion surrounding the character points to a major new character… one on the level of Superman and that has the power of one million exploding suns.

Marvel’s Forgotten Superman

No one in the Marvel Comics universe had heard of the Sentry before his first appearance in the 2000 miniseries The Sentry either, which was written by Paul Jenkins and illustrated by Jae Lee. Strangely, the miniseries positioned the Sentry as one of the oldest and most powerful superheroes in the Marvel canon, but also as a man impossible to remember, even for middle-aged normal guy Bob Reynolds.

But when Bob remembers that he is the Sentry, he goes to visit several of his old friends, who also start to remember him. Turns out that the Sentry was a positive influence on many of the heroes, bringing a bit of levity to their otherwise tragic lives. The Sentry helped Peter Parker achieve respect as a photographer and helped Bruce Banner use the Hulk for good. 

But when the Sentry realized that his arch-enemy, a dark entity called the Void, was also an aspect of Bob Reynolds’ personality, the hero had to make the ultimate sacrifice. Unable to defeat the Void, the Sentry had Doctor Strange wipe him from the world’s memory. The Sentry and the Void disappeared, leaving behind the unremarkable Robert Reynolds.

In short, the Sentry is simultaneously one of Marvel’s most decent and most dangerous heroes. He possesses remarkable powers and a tireless thirst to do good. But his mental illnesses leave him vulnerable. In addition to manifesting the Void, the Sentry also gets easily manipulated by others. Notably, the Sentry becomes a key member of the Avengers that Norman Osborn (aka the Green Goblin) puts together when he becomes the head of SHIELD.

Sentry in the MCU

The Sentry’s time in Osbron’s Avengers (whose stories appeared in a comic book called Dark Avengers) might reveal the role Pullman’s character will play in Thunderbolts. After all, Osborn builds his Avengers from members of the supervillain team he put together. The name of that team: the Thunderbolts.

Under the guise of doing good and rebuilding the world after the Skrull attack in the comic book crossover Secret Invasion, Osborn gets the Sentry to do his bidding. Norman Osborn doesn’t yet exist in the MCU (unless you count Willem Dafoe’s brief visit in Spider-Man: No Way Home), but Allegra certainly seems to be playing the same role.

There’s a very good chance, then, that Thunderbolts involves the titular team trying to find Bob so that Allegra can harness the power of the Sentry, helping her gain control in a world without the Avengers.

Of course, this is still all speculation, as neither the teaser nor anything else confirms that the Sentry is even in the movie. Pressed about his character during the SDCC panel, Pullman would only say that he’s playing a guy called Bob.

Maybe he’s being sly, like many Marvel actors are during their press tours. Or maybe he’s forgotten who Bob really is, which is a very Sentry thing to do.

Thunderbolts will remember to appear in theaters on April 30, 2025.