One of the best new Marvel Cinematic Universe characters introduced in 2025 was Sentry in Thunderbolts*. Played by Lewis Pullman, Sentry was different from his Marvel Comics counterpart. The MCU smartly ignored the origin story where he had been around since the start of the Marvel Universe, but had amnesia, and instead made him a superhero manipulated by dark government forces to fight the Thunderbolts*, before his Void personality took over and created a new villain. With Sentry regaining control, his future is bright in the MCU. However, Pullman was not the original choice to play Sentry. If Steven Yeun had taken on the role, it could have looked drastically different.
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Yeun, who voices the title character on Invincible, was the original Sentry actor. He was going to join director Jake Schreier, who also directed him in Beef. While scheduling issues forced the casting change, Yeun told MovieWeb that he does not hold any grudges, loves the Thunderbolts* movie, and has hope for a future in the MCU. “I did [see it]. I love Jake, Jake Schreier, incredible human director,” Yeun said. “I did [see it] and I never say never. I’m around.”
Steven Yeun Could Have An MCU Future After Invincible
It is incredibly hard to see Steven Yeun portray the Sentry as the character appeared in Thunderbolts*. Yeun is a fantastic actor, as shown in shows like The Walking Dead and Beef, but Pullman brought something to the role that was not like anything Yeun has delivered to this point. Pullman pulled off a broken and awkward persona that fit the character perfectly. Yeun, while a great actor, should join the MCU, but as something very different.
The MCU has created some significant roles for Asian actors, specifically in the Shang-Chi franchise. Yeun has shown a sense of pride in his heritage, and his best movie remains Minari, where he became the first East Asian-American actor to receive a Best Actor nomination at the Oscars. That film had Yeun play a father who moved his family to rural Arkansas in the 1980s to start a farm to sell to vendors in Dallas. It was a masterful performance and remains one of the decade’s best movies.
What Marvel did so well with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was to cast primarily Asian actors, led by Simu Liu, hire an Asian director (Destin Daniel Cretton) and screenwriters (Cretton and David Callaham), and allow the production faithfully to adapt the storyline respectfully. Steven Yeun could be amazing in a role in a new Shang-Chi movie, which is long overdue. Even if he did not want to step into that world, there are so many great roles for the Invincible voice actor, and he is too talented not to get a chance in the MCU.
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