This Character Has the Most Confusing History in Marvel Comics (and It’s Not Who You Think)

Once upon a time in the mighty Marvel Comics universe, the origin story was the foundation from which all other narratives flowed. These were more than just tales of a hero’s beginnings. While central to a character’s story — defining their motivations and values — origin stories were also key to a hero’s appeal. They showed how figures as strong and brave as the Hulk or Captain America were, at their core, not so different from us. Moreover, origin stories functioned like primary documents, helping to explain the many diverse yet interconnected parts of the Marvel universe. In short, origin stories held a profoundly important role in the history of Marvel Comics storytelling.

Then came the multiverse — and with it, the possibility for characters to have multiple origin stories, each revealing a variety of personas, some even in direct conflict with one another. The Marvel Comics multiverse is now teeming with clones, resurrections, and alternate-reality heroes. This development has made even the simplest origin story fraught with complexity and confusion. Yet, in a world where the histories of many of Marvel’s most popular characters — like Kang the Conqueror and the Scarlet Witch — have become so convoluted they border on the ridiculous, one character’s origin and history stand above the rest.

Sentry – a Villain Inside a Hero, Wrapped in an Enigma

At first glance, Robert Reynolds’ Sentry may not strike readers as a character with a confusing history. His origin seems straightforward, and his progression from that point appears similar to many other heroes. But as readers encountered Sentry more and more throughout the Marvel Comics universe, his history became increasingly difficult to track. It became harder to understand who he was, where he came from, or even if he ever existed at all. Unlike the bewildering stories of other Marvel heroes, however, the confusion surrounding Sentry was experienced by in-story characters, real-life readers and fans, and – incredibly – by Sentry himself.

A god-like being with the power of one million exploding suns, Sentry is not only one of Marvel’s most powerful heroes, but also — through his dark alter ego, the Void — one of its most deadly villains. If that isn’t confusing enough, there’s also the fact that although he appears to be a relatively new character, he’s supposedly been around for decades, taking part in — or even single-handedly causing — some of the most legendary events in Marvel history. He was even a founding member of the original Avengers team.

And yet, despite all of this, no one — from Reed Richards to Professor Xavier to you, the reader — had ever heard his name before his official debut in 2000. Or maybe, we’ve all simply forgotten one of Marvel’s greatest champions? Strangely enough, Sentry’s history may — or may not — have actually happened. And that is exactly what makes his story so uniquely confusing.

The Sentry Takes Steps To Save Humanity

Created by Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee, and debuting in their limited series The Sentry (2000), the story begins when an older, seemingly ordinary Robert Reynolds suddenly recalls his past as a young college student. He remembers discovering his professor’s secret formula and drinking it. As a result, he is imbued with incredible, limitless powers, which he immediately uses to fight evil as the Sentry—the Golden Guardian of Good. During that time, he stood among Earth’s mightiest heroes and was well known within the superhero community. But then, inexplicably, he vanished — and with him, all memory of his existence disappeared as well.

As the Sentry and others — especially the Fantastic Four’s Reed Richards — slowly begin to recall the hero, the central question becomes why he was forgotten in the first place. It is soon revealed that the Sentry had a dark alter ego, called the Void, who was a powerful threat, as dangerous as the Sentry was heroic. To protect humanity from the Void, the Sentry used his powers to erase himself and his alter ego from his own memory and the memories of everyone in the Marvel Universe.

Now, upon his reawakening, the Sentry realizes that the world once again faces the same threat. He makes the difficult decision to erase himself from existence once more. In a unique narrative twist, he transfers his memories and story to the series’ actual author, Paul Jenkins. Jenkins then puts those memories to pen and paper, which is why the Marvel-loving public can experience his tale.

Will the Real Sentry Please Stand up?

This is where Sentry’s history begins to unravel. To support his backstory, Marvel created a series of Sentry comics designed to mimic the style and tone of the Golden Age. These stories depicted the Sentry fighting for truth, justice, and — as was typical of the era — the American Way. However, in the present day, the effects of the second memory wipe start to fade. The mental barriers the Sentry imposed on Bob Reynolds — the identity he adopted after the second wipe — begin to crumble. Soon, his memories return, along with those of the heroes who once fought alongside him.

His history then truly goes off the rails. With the Sentry back in action —so to speak— the original threat of the Void returns as well. But to allow the Sentry to remain active without resorting to another memory wipe, the issue of the Void had to be addressed. Over the years, different writers have offered varying origins for the Void, ranging from a cerebral virus, to a psychological illness, to a cosmic force. Those same creators have also proposed conflicting solutions, including psychological therapy and metaphysical separation. However, these explanations and approaches have never been fully reconciled into a single, cohesive canon.

This all results in a character with a fundamentally confusing history — a history deliberately muddled by the creators themselves, seemingly designed to low-key gaslight the fan base. The creators’ intent works: unless you’re a die-hard Sentry fan, how can you be sure which parts of his backstory are real, illusory, or outright fabricated? Even his dark side remains ambiguous. The Sentry’s history is essentially a patchwork of retcons and reinterpretations, where the truth of who he is — and what the Void represents — depends entirely on which story you’re reading.

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