Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Thunderbolts*

New comments from Thunderbolts* actor Lewis Pullman absolutely validate my feeling that the Sentry costume was weird. Having debuted during the second act of Thunderbolts*, Bob Reynolds officially debuted in the MCU as the Sentry thanks to the manipulations of Val and the OXE Group, gold/blue costume and all. However, I felt like something wasn’t quite right about the comics-accurate suit, and it seemed this was by design.

In Thunderbolts*, Bob Reynolds debuts in the MCU as a test subject of the OXE Group, having undergone treatment as part of the organization’s attempts to create their very own superhuman, one Val could control. Once Val discovers Bob’s value and that the treatment actually worked, she and OXE immediately get to work to make him the ideal Earth’s Mightiest Hero. However, Bob’s debut as The Sentry is pretty unsettling. Here’s what Lewis Pullman has said about his costume debut in Thunderbolts*, and why it works so well for the new MCU movie.

Sentry’s Suit Is Introduced In An Oddly Unsettling Way, Despite Being Comic-Accurate

His Debut Is Certainly Off-Putting

Having been manipulated to work for Val with the promise of becoming a genuine hero, Bob agrees to become The Sentry for Val. This includes his gold super-suit and blue cape, and it’s all very similar to the costume seen in the original Marvel Comics. Bob’s hair is also dyed blonde and slicked back, mirroring the characters’ hair on the page.

However, I couldn’t help but feel like it was all very disingenuous and odd. Bob looked extremely uncomfortable in the suit, and the overall aesthetic had a rather uncanny feel to it. It was almost too perfect and clean, the product of Val and OXE wanting the most marketable custom superhero with mᴀss apparel, according to various focus groups. Sure enough, even Bob himself felt unsure about the suit following his first fight with the Thunderbolts.

Lewis Pullman’s Comments About The Sentry Suit Show Just How Intentional This Was

Even The Actor Felt Uncomfortable About The Suit (Not Just Bob)

In an interview with the Walt Disney Company, Lewis Pullman confirmed that the debut of the Sentry costume in Thunderbolts* was meant to be off-putting and uncomfortable:

“It was bizarre. One of the kind of challenging things to ride was that he’s supposed to look like he’s a superhero, but something’s off. There’s something that’s not true to himself, because Valentina had gotten her talons into him. When I finally saw myself fully formed [as Sentry], I was like, ‘I think it’s good that I don’t feel comfortable like this.’ It goes to show that we did it right in terms of how it’s supposed to be a little dissonant and almost a little disturbing. It’s like seeing somebody wearing somebody else’s clothes and trying to act like somebody else. It always looks a little off-putting, so it was really fun to play into.”

The fact that Sentry’s costume debut was so intentionally off-putting makes all the sense in the world, as it’s exactly how I felt about the suit despite it being very accurate to what’s seen in the comics. The costume didn’t feel real or genuine, and very much felt like a caricature of the established heroes we’ve typically seen in the MCU.

I’m Impressed Thunderbolts* Manages To Make The MCU’s Sentry Suit Feel So Jarring Without Really Changing It

The Execution Made It Perfect

Clearly, the entire sense of unease and discomfort was in the execution and Lewis Pullman’s performance. The fact that it works so well is because it doesn’t feel quite right, and that Pullman himself largely felt uncomfortable just as much as the character he was playing. While the costume is incredibly comics-accurate, I was quite impressed by how jarring the suit is, especially in comparison to the kind of person Bob is in the MCU.

The Sentry costume is very bold and meant to stand out with its vibrant colors. Likewise, it sticks out even more compared to the movie’s noticeably grayer and more reserved tones and palette. Bob himself isn’t nearly so bold, making the distinction even more pronounced. As such, it all serves to make Sentry’s debut in Thunderbolts* the best it could possibly be in the MCU. The man in the suit simply wasn’t suited to be the hero OXE wanted him to be, not to mention his dark side as The Void.

Thunderbolts* is now playing in theaters from Marvel Studios.

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