I’m convinced Sentry’s MCU debut is helped to be as effective as it is by the death of a notable Avengers alumni in the franchise. While the original MCU Avengers first appeared on-screen all the way back in 2012, much has changed since then, both for the team itself and the wider franchise. Over the course of the past decade, the Avengers have accepted new members, lost old ones, and reᴀssembled and unᴀssembled more than once, as is perhaps fitting for the Marvel team that has come to define the MCU timeline most directly.

With the majority of the Avengers that came before now no longer active heroes in the current MCU – either because they’ve retired or, even more fairly, because they’re ᴅᴇᴀᴅ – the status quo of the franchise has been all the more primed for shifts in recent history, which it has capitalized on in its latest releases. One such way of doing so has arguably been via the introduction of the MCU’s Sentry, whose debut ostensibly works as well as it does because of the timing of his arrival, and the characters taken off the proverbial board by the time of the MCU’s 2025 releases.

Sentry’s MCU Debut Hinges Around How Extremely Powerful The Character Is

Unsurprisingly, the MCU took the chance to bring a character as powerful as Sentry is established to be and fully ran with the idea. Sentry’s debut in Thunderbolts* fully shows off just how strong he is without even needing to show him at full capacity, as he handily wipes out the entire rest of the main cast in a fight without seemingly having to use a fraction of his true abilities, which works effectively to underline just how doomed the team seem to be if they need to actually physically defeat Sentry to save the day.

Ultimately, the introduction of the Void also reinforces the idea of just how powerful the MCU’s Sentry is, since the Void is the dark other side of the coin for the character, and since the Void’s own ability to create a nightmarish pocket dimension of sorts and forcibly send people there is a pretty colossal power of its own. However, this depiction of Sentry arguably works as well as it does within the movie because of the timing of his MCU introduction, and because of the characters who are still active in the MCU’s at this time.

Sentry’s MCU Debut Being After Scarlet Witch’s Doctor Strange 2 Death Arguably Helps It Work

Thunderbolts* takes place at a time wherein the next iteration of the Avengers is at best only just becoming active, given the team appears to have fallen into dormancy following the events of Avengers: Endgame, and given Valentina’s comments in the 2025 movie that “the Avengers aren’t coming.” Similarly, Thunderbolts* comes at point in the timeline wherein many of the more prominent MCU heroes are ᴅᴇᴀᴅ or retired, with Iron Man, Black Widow, and Scarlet Witch having all pᴀssed away in relatively recent history, and Steve Rogers retiring as Captain America during this time too.

Scarlet Witch’s 2022 death in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – which saw her sacrifice herself to try and destroy the Darkhold that corrupted her after spending most of the movie as the story’s villain – drastically changed the power balance of the MCU, especially since WandaVision and the Doctor Strange sequel drive how just how immense Wanda’s reality-warping abilities are at this point in her arc. Thunderbolts* taking place in a world in which Wanda is already ᴅᴇᴀᴅ makes moments like the reveal of the Void’s own reality-changing powers thus more impressive with the Scarlet Witch already gone.

This isn’t the only way Wanda being ᴅᴇᴀᴅ benefits Sentry’s MCU debut, though. On a similar level, the concept of Sentry being comparable and possibly even more powerful than the Avengers is easier to imagine with the team’s proverbial wildcard – and the hero most able to contend with Sentry on a level that isn’t in the physical realm where his powers are centered – having essentially been taken out of the equation before she could be shown using her full powers with a clear mind for any reason other than to sacrifice herself.

Indeed, Sentry is one of the heroes that could fill the hole left by Scarlet Witch’s death in the franchise – as a character who is immensely powerful and who could well turn the tide of battle in the heroes’ favor, but who presents a mᴀssive risk to them also via the incredibly volatile nature of his being and story. With Lewis Pullman – Bob’s actor in the MCU – being confirmed as part of the cast for Avengers: Doomsday, it seems the potential for Sentry to slot into this role in the wider MCU might come sooner rather than later, too.

Currently, It’s Hard To Say What Other MCU Heroes Can Compete With Sentry

While it likely won’t be clear who is in the new Avengers roster until Avengers: Doomsday‘s release, it seems that the vast majority of this new take on the team won’t be able to compare up to Sentry’s own powers – as Captain America and Falcon, as the two members of the group that we currently know, already don’t appear to. When looking at Marvel’s comic history, it seems as though the main MCU heroes who could hope to compete with Sentry are the Hulk and Thor, but this is complicated by both of the heroes’ stories in the franchise itself.

Despite holding their own against Sentry in several comic stories, the MCU depictions of both Hulk and Thor have been accused of being weaker than their on-page counterparts – something that’s arguably true given the franchise hasn’t adapted many of their most powerful-looking comic moments or stories in its own overarching narrative thus far. As such, the chances of either being able to defeat Sentry right now in the MCU seem more potentially tenuous, making the decision to debut the character after Scarlet Witch’s death make even more sense in terms of amping up the tension around the prospect.

This isn’t to say that the MCU has made Sentry look unbeatable, of course, particularly with a slew of other more notably powerful characters having also made their own appearances within the latest chapters of the franchise. However, the current landscape of the MCU certainly makes the character’s position within it all the more interesting, both in terms of who could face off against Sentry or the Void were they to present themselves as obstacles in future releases, and who could stand a hope of actually winning such a fight following what Thundertbolts* establishes about the matter.

Upcoming MCU Movies

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  Thunderbolts*

  
  
  
  

  
  

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  The Fantastic Four: First Steps

  
  
  
  

  
  

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  Avengers: Doomsday

  
  
  
  

  
  

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  Spider-Man: Brand New Day

  
  
  
  

  
  

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  Avengers: Secret Wars

  
  
  
  

  
  

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