Who Is The Sentry In ‘Thunderbolts*’ Explained

Following rave reviews and claims of being the best MCU movie since Avengers: Endgame, Thunderbolts* has taken the world by storm. From its tactful writing to its outlook on the future of the MCU, the movie has it all. But most interestingly, it introduced audiences to a new hero and a new villain, The Sentry and The Void. 

Thunderbolts* follows a group of ragtag anti-heroes (Florence Pugh, Wyatt Russell, Hannah John-Kamen, Olga Kurylenko) who are forced to work together after being put in a deathtrap by CIA director Valentina Allegra De Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). Whilst fighting to the death in The Vault, our team is introduced to the mysterious amnesiac Bob (Lewis Pullman) who finds himself awoken in the Vault. 

Steven Yeun was previously attached to the role of Bob but ended up dropping out due to scheduling conflicts. It would have been his third big comic book role following Glen Rhee in The Walking Dead and Mark Grayson in Invincible. Lewis Pullman was first rumored to join the cast in January of 2024. 

From here on out, this article contains spoilers for Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts*.

In addition, a content warning, this article also contains references to mental health, domestic violence and suicide.

Robert Reynolds is an ex-drug addict who struggles with mental health issues. In childhood, he suffered from abuse at the hands of his parents, both physically and psychologically. This leads him in adulthood to wander the world aimlessly, looking for drugs and signs himself up for an experimental procedure in Malaysia to better himself for the greater good of humanity.

This is where we find ourselves at the beginning of the film. Red Room assassin Yelena Belova is attempting to destroy evidence of Project Sentry in the form of a laboratory, killing its occupants and blowing it up. Eagle-eyed audience members will notice shadows burnt into the background of the lab, foreshadowing the disasters that will unfold later in the film. 

We first meet Bob Reynolds (Lewis Pullman) in the Vault. Whilst fighting, John Walker (Russell) hits Yelena (Pugh) into a storage crate, which unlocks itself. Out of frame, Bob crawls out and later introduces himself as Bob, a man in pajamas with no recollection of how he ended up in Utah. We see a shot of the inside of the crate, which is padded for human storage. Upon escaping the Vault before the incinerator turned on, Bob makes a joke about Walker being “an asshole”, leading Walker to push him into a wall. Bob’s eyes turn a slight yellow, teasing his superpowers. In this scene, Bob also touches Yelena’s hand accidentally, leading Yelena to launch herself into a flashback, something later revealed to be called a “shame room.” She is lucid in this dream state, and Bob is also present. Walker soon finds himself in a shame room too, nearly committing suicide following the experience. Upon exiting the Vault and fighting through Valentina’s OXE mercenaries, Bob sacrifices himself for the team but also acts on his suicidal tendencies.

Valentina’s mercenaries open fire on Bob, littering him with bullets before Val can stop them. He drops to the ground but gets back up and starts levitating. He flies quickly straight into the sky before passing out, soon rocketing down towards the Utah desert, knocking over Yelena, Ava, and Walker in their truck. Val retrieves Bob’s unconscious body and takes him to her new New York location — The Watchtower. In this moment, it is revealed that Val purchased Avengers Tower from Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) and has been the mysterious owner since it was sold in 2016, over eleven years ago in universe.

Meanwhile, on their trek back to civilisation, Yelena, Walker and Ghost go over the Sentry blueprints, which detail some potential costume design choices as well as potential logos. Back at the Watchtower, Val aims to manipulate Bob into doing her dirty work by acting nurturing, using his past to relate to him. He sends Valentina into a shame room, where she witnesses the death of her father. Bob now practices his powers, destroying a glass full of water telekinetically, and costume designers work hard in the background preparing his supersuit. 

The Thunderbolts, now joined by Congressman Bucky “The Winter Soldier” Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and Alexei “The Red Guardian” Shostakov (David Harbour), brute force into The Watchtower and make their way up to the penthouse where Valentina is waiting for them. When Bucky attempts to apprehend Val, Bob uses his telekinetic power to stop him. The Thunderbolts then fight Sentry and are defeated with ease. His powerset is wide, with him exhibiting super speed, flight, invincibility, heat vision, and more. However, when Val orders Sentry to finish them, he declines, stating they did nothing wrong and are of no threat to him. Sentry catches onto Val’s manipulation and grabs her by the neck and threatens her. Only then does Valentina’s assistant Mel (Geraldine Viswanathan), grab a killswitch and engage it, killing Sentry.

Val and Mel leave the room, leaving Sentry’s body behind, which is slowly enveloped by an inky black shadow. This is his evil alter-ego and a manifestation of his mental health struggles, The Void.

Outside, the Thunderbolts breakup following their defeat, but are soon forced to come together as a new enemy has surfaced. The Void is floating far above New York, having left The Watchtower. Val orders her operatives to shoot at him, but he turns them to shadows, sending them to permanent shame rooms. She orders OXE mercenaries in helicopters to kill him, but he shadows them as well, and the helicopters crash into the building and a crane, creating a threat to onlookers down below.

Soon, The Void descends on crowds and turns the entirety of New York into an interconnected shame room. He is defeated when Yelena, John, Ava, Alexei, and Bucky help Bob confront The Void within his own shame room. During the ending of the film, he joins Valentina’s New Avengers. 

In the post-credits scene, he can be seen alongside the other New Avengers as the team is ready to find out if they have new friends and foes in the form of the Fantastic Four (Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, Ebon Moss-Bachrach). 

Thunderbolts*, or rather *The New Avengers, stars Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Lewis Pullman as The Sentry / The Void, Wyatt Russell as John Walker / U.S. Agent, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes / The Winter Soldier, Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Star / Ghost, and David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov / The Red Guardian. Julia Louis Dreyfus, Wendell Pierce and Geraldine Viswanathan play supporting roles as Valentina Allegra De Fontaine, Congressman Gary, and Mel, respectively. The film is now playing in theatres worldwide.

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