Marvel Loses Best Actor Imaginable For Thunderbolts

Steven Yeun, though never officially confirmed by Marvel, was rumored to play the Sentry in Thunderbolts. Sentry would have undoubtedly played a big role that continued to pop up in future MCU properties.

The Sentry is easily one of the most powerful heroes in Marvel, and there’s a good chance we could have seen Yeun playing both a hero and a villain if he took on the role.

The Sentry is the superhero alter ego of a man named Bob Reynolds, who took a serum that gave him immense power. However, The Sentry has a dark side of his personality known as The Void that he often has to struggle to keep at bay.

It’s a role that Steven Yeun would have definitely been perfect for, and it could be easy to see a scenario where the Thunderbolts had to take on the Void after working with the Sentry.

Although Steven Yeun won’t be involved in Thunderbolts, the film should still be on track for a July 2025 release after getting pushed from its July 2024 release date.

Directed by Jake Schreier, the movie follows a group of anti-heroes who are brought together by the government to take on covert tasks.

Amongst the returning characters were Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Wyatt Russell as US Agent, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, and Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster.

Despite the loss of Steven Yeun in Thunderbolts, the cast is still stacked. Along with the aforementioned team of anti-heroes, Julia-Louis Dreyfus will return as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Harrison Ford will replace William Hurt as Thunderbolt Ross, and The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri will play a currently undisclosed role. Still, it’s definitely a blow to lose such a high-profile actor, especially during Marvel’s continuing struggles with the MCU.

Meanwhile, Steven Yeun is busy continuing to set himself apart as one of the biggest current stars in Hollywood. He’s currently playing a superhero in a very different comic book universe in Invincible, which will be airing the second part of its second season in 2024.

He also starred and executive produced last year’s Beef, which he and his co-star Ali Wong are getting a ton of Emmy buzz for their performances. 

Steven Yeun will also be plenty busy in 2024, which is likely playing a role in his decision to drop out of Thunderbolts.

One of his biggest upcoming projects will be in Bong Joon Ho’s sci-fi film Mickey 17, which also stars Robert Pattinson, Mark Ruffalo, Toni Collette, and Naomi Ackie. Mickey 17 is Bong Joon Ho’s follow-up to his massively successful and critically acclaimed social satire Parasite, so there are huge expectations for his newest film.

You can check out Steven Yeun now in Invincible and Beef, which are currently streaming on Amazon Prime and Netflix, respectively. For the latest MCU project, you can check out What If…? Season 2 on Disney+. Stay tuned for more news on Thunderbolts as we await its 2025 release.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter