The Walking Dead star Steven Yeun is heading to the MCU... as the Sentry.
During an interview with comic book artist David Finch, The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman spilled the beans on who Yeun will be playing. “My good friend Steven Yeun is playing the Sentry in a movie,” he revealed.
Sentry (aka Robert Reynolds) first appeared in the comic books in The Sentry #1 back in 2000. The Marvel Knights miniseries ran for just five issues, before moving into a series of flashback one-shots that saw Sentry team up with the likes of the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, and the Hulk. He returned in 2005 as part of the New Avengers and has since appeared in The Mighty Avengers and the Dark Avengers.
The middle-aged, overweight Reynolds isn’t a superhero at first, but begins to remember that he was once the Sentry, a superhero with the power of ‘a million suns’. His archenemy, the Void, is returning, and he has to recruit the help of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to fend him off.
Eventually, Reynolds realizes he and the Void are two halves of the same person and that he had previously removed all memory of the Sentry from the entire world (a la Spider-Man: No Way Home) including his own, to ensure his two halves remain separate forever.
How faithful the big-screen adaptation will be remains to be seen, but it sounds as though Yeun will be getting a costume. “Yeah, he called me, he went in for a costume fitting,” Kirkman added. “I hope I’m not... I don’t think this is a spoiler or anything that will get anybody in trouble. I don’t know, maybe. We’ll see. I don’t care. I don’t work for Marvel. What are they going to do to me?”
Might have dropped the ball a bit there! Kirkman also revealed that Yeun’s costume will draw from the Sentry’s classic colors, which are the same as those worn by his other superhero role, Invincible.
“Yeah, he called me and he said, 'I just came back from a costume fitting for the Sentry. I guess I only do superheroes that are yellow and blue.' He said he was at the costume fitting and was like, 'Aww, crap. I forgot Invincible was yellow and blue.'"
Robert Kirkman just spilling all the tea ? #Sentry pic.twitter.com/IXB0GxKwYb
— NerdWithTheTech (@NerdWithTheTech) November 17, 2023
Yeun is set to make his MCU debut in the Thunderbolts, which is due out on July 25, 2025. In August, director Jake Schreier teased his star-studded team-up movie, explaining that it will offer "something different" to past MCU entries, so it might not align with audience expectations. Thunderbolts will see various Marvel characters team up for the first time on the big screen. Previously announced stars include Sebastian Stan as the Winter Soldier, Wyatt Russell as John Walker (aka US Agent), Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster, and Harrison Ford as Thaddeus Ross.
The Bear's Ayo Edebiri has also joined the cast in an undisclosed role, while Julia Louis-Dreyfus is back as Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (the Director of the CIA) after frequently showing up throughout Phase 4 of the MCU, following her debut in Marvel's The Falcon and the Winter Solider.
For more, check out our feature on Marvel's Thunderbolts and how the supervillain team will reshape the MCU.
Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
