Marvel Cut an Important Sentry Line From Thunderbolts’ Ending (& It Changes Everything)

WARNING: There are Thunderbolts* spoilers ahead! Lewis Pullman just revealed an interesting line of dialogue that was cut from the ending of Thunderbolts*, which would have clarified where his character Bob is at in the end. It would have come in the falling action scene, just before the Thunderbolts step into Valentina’s trap and are declared The New Avengers. According to Pullman, at this point Bob would have said something like, “Do any of you guys fly, or do you all just punch and shoot?” It as meant to cast further doubt on Bob’s memory and his mental state, but the filmmakers chose to leave it more ambiguous instead. That, in itself, may tell us something about Bob’s future in the MCU.

“There was a line that was where we’re walking into the boob trap that Valentina has set, where I say to Yelena, ‘So, do any of you guys fly, or do you all just punch and shoot,’” Pullman recalled in an interview with Josh Horowitz for the Happy Sad Confused podcast. “She looks at me, kind of like, ‘Oh wait, do you know that you’re referencing something you’ve experienced? Do you actually remember something?’ I think we took that out because we could sell that without something, maybe, as on-the-nose.”

“We were trying to convey that confusion, like, ‘Wait, there are slivers of memory peeking through here,’” Pullman went on. It sounds like the scene in the final cut is meant to convey this same uncertainty. “It was an interesting thing to shoot that sequence where they all get applauded at the end, because we were like, ‘Well, does Bob stand there and receive the applause? Or does he step aside and applaud with everybody?’ And we all agreed that it made the most sense that he would be like, ‘Oh, obviously they’re not talking about me. What an exciting thing, this is crazy to just bear witness to this!’”

[RELATED: When Will Marvel’s Thunderbolts* Stream on Disney+?]

“It’s an interesting thing to kind of tiptoe around. I think I’m as excited as anybody,” Pullman concluded. The actor emphasized how strict Marvel Studios is with secrecy and non-disclosure agreements, admitting that he wasn’t allowed to see a complete script before accepting this role. He also said he has no real knowledge on Bob’s future in the MCU, but he has hopes and ideas for the character.

The compartmentalization of Bob’s memories and his psyche is explained more thoroughly in Marvel Comics, while Thunderbolts* depicts it as a supernatural extension of mental illness and addiction. In the end, it’s clear that Bob does not have access to his powers, but perhaps not as clear that he doesn’t consciously remember being Sentry or the Void. This may be an intentional change for the MCU, or it may require further explaining later on.

We may learn more very soon, as Pullman is already confirmed for the cast of Avengers: Doomsday next year. Before that, we have The Fantastic Four: First Steps hitting theaters on July 25th, as well as a few more MCU shows coming to Disney+ in the meantime. Thunderbolts* is in theaters now.