There’s a new Marvel superhero entering the MCU and his name is The Sentry. For those of you not in the know his powers are akin to DC’s Superman and he will be played by Ryan Gosling.
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Ryan Gosling as Sentry in the MCU
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Apart from similar power sets, the two superhero characters are vastly different. While Kal-El escaped from an exploding Krypton in a pod as a baby, Marvel‘s journey of Sentry starts with The Golden Sentry Serum. Similar to the Super Soldier Serum in Captain America. Then the story takes an even darker turn.
In this article, we’ll go through who exactly is Marvel‘s superhero Sentry.
Sentry Origin Story
In 1947, Department K (a covert branch of the Canadian government) and the remaining members of Operation: Rebirth (the government project that created Captain America) decided to work together to create Project: Sentry. With the goal of creating a force far greater than a super-soldier.
Ten years later, Professor Cornelius Worth, eventually completed Project: Sentry in a laboratory in New York City. Where it would be found by the most unlikely of people – meth addict, Robert Reynolds.
Unlike Captain America‘s noble ambition to be a force of good, Sentry’s origin story is a little darker. The man who would eventually become Sentry is Robert Reynolds. Reynolds was a meth addict that stumbled upon Professor Cornelius’ laboratory while searching for his next fix.
Upon finding the Sentry serum he drinks it and becomes so overwhelmed with power he destroys the people around him. Just like any addict, he forces Professor Cornelius to make more and more for him. And eventually, Reynolds dons on his own superhero costume and names himself – The Sentry.
Sentry’s Powers & Abilities
The Sentry has a huge list of powers and abilities and is placed at Omega-Level or Power Level 10+. We’ll briefly go into his powers and abilities here:
- Chemically Enhanced Physiology – Similar to Superman his power are photokinetic based and come from the sun.
- Molecular Manipulation: Similar to shapeshifting. He can even extend this ability into materialisation and create objects or Golems.
- Immortality: Immunity to aging.
- Superhuman Strength: For example during an encounter with Thor, Captain Marvel and She-Hulk, Sentry was able to knock them all aside with ease.
- Superhuman Speed: The speed of Sentry matches that of Thor and the Silver Surfer.
- Nigh-Invulnerability: The Sentry is, for all intents and purposes, almost completely impervious to harm, and has shown no direct weakness.
- Superhuman Stamina
- Superhuman Agility
- Superhuman Reflexes
- Superhuman Senses
- Flight: The Sentry possesses the ability to float by defying gravity, using his superhuman speed to fly far above hypersonic speeds. He has demonstrated travelling to the Sun and back in a matter of moments which would require him to fly at speeds faster than light.
- Teleportation: On at least one occasion, Sentry has shown an ability to teleport in a blinding flash of golden light.
- Photokinesis: It may be theorized that the Sentry also has the superhuman ability to generate, control, and emit light. This ability to produce hard-light constructs may be similar to those of Dazzler.[75]
- Light Projection: Having absolute control over the light he produces, he can control its direction, frequency (color), amplitude (intensity), and duration.
- Invisibility: Sentry can turn invisible by deflecting light and radiant emissions.
- Energy Blasts: The Sentry can generate light, heat, kinetic force, and other forms of energy as powerful blasts and explosions of a yellow color. These blasts are usually generated from the hands and eyes. But he was always like to use it’s in the form of optic blast.
- Darkness Manipulation: After merging with the Void, Sentry gained the Void’s darkness manipulation abilities. He can generate tentacles from his darkness that could restrain someone as well as knock them away.
- Psionic Abilities: The few psychic abilities he has displayed so far was implanting his memories inside Paul Jenkins’ mind, being able to erase himself from the memories of every being on the planet, with the help of CLOC, Dr. Strange, and Reed Richards.
- Biokinesis: Robert once using his power to cure his therapist’s daughter of a vegetative state and spinal problems seemingly just by being in the same room as her, while the Void bestowed a young unwed mother with an incurable breast cancer disease from states away.
- Resurrection: The Sentry appears to be able to resurrect himself and to bring the dead back to life under extreme emotional distress.
- Regenerative Healing Factor: The Sentry can heal himself from virtually all injuries.
- Power Sharing: A couple of times the Sentry has utilized a unique ability to bestow portions of his own power onto others or using it to augment existing powers in those of his friends.
- Energy Absorption: The Sentry has been stated to be capable of drawing energy from ‘anywhere and everywhere’ including the Microverse.
- Genius Intelligence: Sentry is adept with mechanics, architecture, machinery, tracing energy sources, cybernetics, robotics and computer science.
Weaknesses
- Antimatter: Since Sentry has the power to manipulate molecules, he is notably susceptible to antimatter, as seen in his fight against Anti-Man.
Due to his condition with The Void, Robert suffers from many weaknesses:
- Psychic Assault: The Sentry has a fragile psyche and is readily susceptible to mental manipulation.
- The Negative Zone: The Sentry is at his weakest in the Negative Zone. His powers and health gradually deteriorate the longer he is inside the zone itself and even worse, his counterpart/nemesis The Void’s powers increase to maximum.
- Lack of Control: Sentry doesn’t seem to have complete control over all of his abilities.
- Vulnerability to Chi: Spiritual energy based attacks, such as Chi, have been shown to be capable of injuring Sentry especially when inflicted by someone powerful.
The Age of the Sentry
After appearing in public as a superhero, The Sentry became America’s foremost superheroic paragon of virtue. Over time, he became close friends with the heroes of New York, being a mentor to the young Spider-Man, an equal to Reed Richards, a defender of the outcast heroes the X-Men and even a friend to the Hulk.
During this time The Sentry met a woman named Lindy Lee and the two fell in love and married. The Sentry also gained a sidekick, a boy named Billy Turner who became the superhero, The Scout.
Sentry’s Main Villain – The Void
The Void is a shadowy monster that exploits its enemy’s greatest fears. It nearly kills Scout, drives the Hulk into a rampage, and murders over one million people in Manhattan. Eventually though it turns out that the Void had been the dark aspect Sentry’s own powers.
Working together with Reed Richards and Dr. Strange, The Sentry developed Watchtower. Which made Earth’s entire population — including Richards, Strange, and the Sentry — forget his existence.
With the Sentry inactive and forgotten, the Void vanishes.
Years later, though Robert Reynold’s memories returned, and along with them the Void.
Where Will We See Sentry In The MCU?
Since last year, rumors have been ramping up about Sentry’s involvement with Marvel Studios’ upcoming Thunderbolts movie. According to some leakers, Sentry will be the Thunderbolts’ main villain.
Sentry will allegedly not start out as a villain, with Valentina Allegra de Fontaine initially sending him out alongside the Thunderbolts. It’s there when Sentry’s The Void personality takes over, which in turn makes the character one of the biggest threats the MCU has ever seen, with the potential to destroy the entire universe.
The Thunderbolts team includes Ghost, Red Guardian, Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, US Agent, and Taskmaster. Their link to Robert Reynolds is that the Thunderbolts team were also exposed to different variations of the Serum. Given this connection, Sentry being the villain in Thunderbolts would make sense, and Gosling would be a great choice to play him.
Thunderbolts is expected to debut on July 26th 2024.