Though the main threat of Marvel’s Thunderbolts* remains in shadow, his identity is clear.
So far, the studio declined to acknowledge the identity of Lewis Pullman’s character beyond his nickname “Bob,” even though readers of Marvel Comics figured it out fairly early by piecing together all the evidence. A new promo revealed Monday, timed to ticket sales, finally acknowledges this figure by name…Well, one of his names.
“I am the Void,” Pullman’s Bob declares. “There’s no use fighting…. You don’t know what I’m capable of. Maybe I need to show you.”
A separate international Thunderbolts* trailer then mentions the name Sentry. Mel (Geraldine Viswanathan), Val’s assistant, says, “Sentry’s gone off the rails and he’s dangerous. The Avengers are gone. No one is coming to save the day.”
“He’s invincible, all powerful, stronger than all of the Avengers rolled into one,” Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) also describes in the footage.
Who is the Void? Here’s the SparkNotes version. (If you prefer to avoid anything remotely sounding like spoilers, turn away now.)
In the comics, a teenager suffering from schizophrenia and anxiety named Robert Reynolds (you might refer to him as “Bob”) steals an experimental serum from his high school science professor, hoping to get high. Unbeknownst to him, this concoction is the product of a failed government operation to recreate the Super Soldier Serum. Bob develops incredible Superman-like powers: strength, invulnerability, flight, speed, enhanced senses, and energy projection.
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Given his mental issues, however, the serum creates a malevolent alter-ego inside of Bob’s mind called the Void. To counteract this evil entity, Bob subconsciously creates the Sentry, his more benevolent persona, complete with a superhero cape, yellow spandex, and giant “S” on his buckle. Marvel Studios has not formally confirmed Pullman’s Bob as Robert Reynolds/Sentry/the Void. However, there’s no denying the setup for this reveal in the various trailers released so far.
The Void (Lewis Pullman) in ‘Thunderbolts*’. Marvel Entertainment/Youtube
Hasbro even unveiled images of its upcoming Thunderbolts* action figures for the Marvel Legends toy line, and the Sentry figure was clearly made in the likeness of Pullman.
Teasing his role at San Diego Comic-Con last year, Pullman told Entertainment Weekly, “All I’ll say is that everyone has their own nicknames and Bob is not his only name, as Lewis is not my only name.”
In the Thunderbolts* promos, the Void presents himself as a version of Sentry completely shrouded in shadows. He wreaks havoc by spreading darkness and turning his victims into shadows. Since Anthony Mackie‘s Sam Wilson hasn’t reconstituted the Avengers yet, Val assembles her own off-brand Avengers to handle the Void: Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Bucky Barnes/the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), U.S. Agent/John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour), Ava Starr/Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko).
It will no doubt be a difficult mission for this crew, given the awesome power Sentry/the Void wields. However, we do know that Pullman, Pugh, Stan, Harbour, Russell, and John-Kamen will return to the MCU with next year’s Avengers: Doomsday. So at least some of them are walking away from this encounter.
Directed by Jake Schreier, Thunderbolts* will open in theaters this May 2. Tickets are now on sale.
This article has been updated with the international Thunderbolts* trailer.
