The most recent trailer for Marvel’s “Thunderbolts*” (sure, the asterisk after the title appears to be intentional) units up a grand, thrilling stand-off. The titular group of antiheroes — comprising Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) and Pink Guardian (David Harbour), amongst others — are seen preventing a supervillain who taunts their incompetence. “You thought you had been going to be some nice saviors? You’ll be able to’t even save yourselves,” this determine declares, making it amply clear that the Thunderbolts won’t be outfitted to take care of such a formidable menace. This menace in query is Robert “Bob” Reynolds/Sentry (Lewis Pullman), whose villainous flip is prompted when he’s contaminated by The Void, which turns him right into a harmful drive of nature often known as Darkish Sentry. However who precisely is Robert, and the way did such a promising hero morph right into a nightmarish entity?
Earlier than we dive into Darkish Sentry’s origins, it’s essential to grasp the sociopolitical context of the world that requires the Thunderbolts to step in. It is a world devoid of The Avengers, at the least in keeping with a element teased within the trailer that may’ve spoiled a significant plot level from the upcoming “Captain America: Courageous New World.” If we take this reveal at face worth, then the implications are dire, because the Thunderbolts haven’t any alternative however to maintain folks protected within the absence of Earth’s strongest superheroes. Sensing this main energy vacuum, Darkish Sentry looms over New York Metropolis, the place a literal darkness emanates from him and impacts town’s frightened populace.
With out additional ado, let’s be taught extra about Robert Reynolds and his flip as The Void within the Marvel Comics.
Marvel’s The Void is essentially the most harmful manifestation of a God complicated
The Void existed as a darkish entity even earlier than it hooked up itself to Robert, and his presence might be traced again so far as 1600 BCE. Robert was launched in Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee’s “Sentry #1,” the place he’s offered as a superhero of the Silver Age. This gold-clad superhero has a fairly commonplace superhero origin story, the place he ingests an experimental chemical serum (as they all the time do!) that grants him the “energy of 1,000,000 exploding suns.” Taking over the function of a guardian, Robert adopts the identify “Sentry” and works alongside the likes of the Avengers and the Incredible 4. Someplace alongside the road, Robert warns his allies about The Void however is unable to stop the tragedy that will corrupt his personal soul.
The Void’s return is accompanied by chaos and carnage, because it provokes the Hulk right into a rampage and kills over 1 million folks (!) in Manhattan. By the point Sentry realizes that The Void manifests because the darkest elements of his powers, it’s too late. To make issues proper, he works intently with Reed Richards and Physician Stephen Unusual, and the trio works collectively to make everybody on Earth overlook about Sentry, together with Robert himself. With Sentry’s reminiscence erased from the minds of the residing, the Void additionally vanishes.
As you may need already guessed, The Void returns. Years after the Manhattan incident, Robert regains his reminiscences, which causes the Void to exert extra energy than ever earlier than. Though the complete extent of the Void’s powers is unknown, this alter-ego possesses superhuman energy/agility, flight, power manipulation, and one thing referred to as Molecularkinesis. This distinctive skill permits it to disintegrate one other being on an atomic stage, similar to when he eliminates the immortal Loki with out exerting a lot effort. Though the Void is posed as a sentient drive that existed for millennia, Sentry interprets it as his unconscious darkness, as this entity typically eggs him on to assert godhood by rejecting his superhero standing.
What Darkish Sentry’s presence may imply for Thunderbolts*
Within the “Thunderbolts*” trailer that was launched on Tremendous Bowl Sunday, Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ CIA Director character Val needs to offer the titular group with redemption by thrusting them right into a harmful mission. Nicely, she has little alternative, as this renegade antihero gang is her finest guess in opposition to the large unhealthy threatening to destabilize town within the absence of the Avengers. We have already got a supersoldier within the combine within the type of Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), who has come a good distance since being programmed right into a senseless killing machine.
As Sentry’s powers are additionally the results of the same super-serum, a route connection may be drawn between these characters despite the fact that they stand on opposing ends. In any case, nobody treasures the worth of innate humanity greater than Bucky, who skilled the horrors of being overtaken by a murderous, manufactured alter-ego firsthand. This might be the catalyst for the Thunderbolts interesting to The Void’s core self later within the battle, as The Sentry’s humanity might be an antidote to eliminating Darkish Sentry’s damaging tendencies.
If issues do unfurl on this route, “Thunderbolts*” shall be following Robert/Sentry’s comic-book storyline fairly intently, the place he additionally fights the New Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. as soon as the Void takes over his physique. The reminiscence erasure talked about earlier can be repeated throughout this arc, and it stays to be seen whether or not the movie takes the identical route, or decides to flesh out Robert’s inside tussle to terrifying extremes.
“Thunderbolts*” releases in theaters on Might 2, 2025.
