Sentry Recasting Addressed by Thunderbolts* Director (& What It Meant for the Film)

Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier opens up about recasting the role of Sentry and how that impacted the film during development. In an interview with Fortress of Solitude to promote the upcoming Marvel blockbuster, the filmmaker discussed Lewis Pullman replacing Steven Yeun to play Sentry. In particular, Schreier was asked if there were any significant alterations made to the character after the change took place. He shared that there weren’t many changes made to the script before elaborating on Pullman’s process to tap into the character. He worked with the actor extensively to iron out the best approach for the movie.

“From a writing perspective, not a lot. I think what you always want with any actor is to explore what points of connection they find with that character, and so it was a new process with Lewis, who is so open and so committed to figuring out all the levels of that character,” Schreier said. “And it is such a complex set of dimensionality that you need to explore to make that work. He and I would just get together every weekend and go through line by line within the scenes – even when he is just Bob –  which lines tie into which sides of the character a little bit more and really carve out, even if it’s subtle and not everyone reads it the first time they watch, which aspects of the character those lines are connecting to.”

Yeun was initially cast in Thunderbolts* back in 2023 but had to drop out a year later. The reasoning for his departure stemmed from the production delays caused by the 2023 Hollywood strikes. Pullman came aboard shortly after Yeun left, and Sentry is going to be a recurring Marvel role for him. Pullman was one of the 27 actors Marvel confirmed for Avengers: Doomsday during a livestream event in late March.

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Pullman has been featured throughout the Thunderbolts* marketing campaign, but Marvel has kept Sentry largely under wraps in trailers. Fans haven’t gotten a proper look at the character in footage yet, but merchandise has revealed Sentry’s comics-accurate costume. It’s also been teased during Thunderbolts* promotion that Sentry is one of the most powerful characters in the MCU, setting high stakes for the titular team’s showdown with him.

Sometimes, roles are written with a specific actor in mind, so it’s interesting that there apparently wasn’t much done on the page to revise the character after the casting change. It sounds like the biggest shift came in approach to portray Sentry, which makes sense. Each actor is different, and each one has their own process when connecting to the character they’re about to play. Even if the lines of dialogue were the same, Yeun and Pullman probably clicked with different aspects. Schreier smartly decided to give Pullman the space he needed to craft his unique version of Sentry rather than boxing him in to something that didn’t fit his style.

While it would have been fun to see Yeun join the MCU (and that will hopefully still happen someday), everything seems to have worked out for the Thunderbolts* team. Ahead of its theatrical release on May 2nd, the film is generating positive word of mouth. Early reactions were quite enthusiastic, positioning Thunderbolts* as the rebound the MCU needed after Captain America: Brave New World disappointed earlier this year. Hopefully, Pullman’s Sentry resonates with viewers, setting the stage for a dramatic return in Doomsday.