The fourth and fifth phases of Marvel, which have mostly met with disappointment, are finally witnessing their revisit to the glory days of the past decades with the release of Thunderbolts*. Directed by Jake Schreier, the movie packed action, deep emotional depth, character development, and all the available scope it could have with such a talented cast on display. Acclaimed by fans and critics, Thunderbolts* finale served even a greater end with the Void being defeated with Bob, and set the stage for endless possibilities in upcoming movies.

But fans would be surprised to know that Sentry/Void played by Lewis Pullman was not its original choice for the main villain.

Thunderbolts* has brought a storm to the cinemas, and after the spectacular release, much behind-the-scenes information is slowly coming out from the crew. The movie writer Eric Pearson recently gave an exclusive interview with ScreenRant where he shared that it was John Walker, played by Wyatt Russell, not the Sentry, who was the original villain. “The original drafts of this had John Walker as the punching villain at the end,” Pearson shared in the interview.

Eric Pearson felt that the Walker version “was kind of fun, but ultimately didn't work and didn't feel right tone-wise”. He felt that the villain should be someone that the new Avengers cannot beat in a punching fight, and that they have to connect to in an emotional way. Surely, fans who have seen Sentry as the antagonist in Thunderbolts* cannot imagine anyone else in the role. Pearson also revealed the origin story behind his decision to cast Sentry in the villain’s chair.

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The decision of going with Sentry was long influenced by the earlier comics, which made a high impact on the character’s portrayal.

In the same interview, Eric Pearson also shared that back in 2010 or 2011, he read the Sentry comics and was influenced by them; he wanted to mix the heroic ambition and self-esteem versus self-loathing and depression, and loneliness. Pearson felt that Sentry is the entire journey for the heroes rolled into one entity, so he pulled the trigger and put him in, and it fit so perfectly. In the comics, the character of Sentry/Void had existed since the Golden Age with so much power that he was a threat, so he erased his memory from everyone. 

For the movie, Eric Pearson tried to take as many elements from it as possible, which also went well with the underlying mental health themes, and kept John Walker a hero. Well, the bet paid off. From its opening to the post-credit scene filmed by the Russo Brothers, fans are loving everything about Thunderbolts* as the movie rapidly flies towards becoming a mega buster and taking Marvel back to the top again.

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What are your thoughts on Marvel changing the movie’s villain from John Walker to the Sentry? Share with us below.