Though both Marvel and Steven Yeun are currently keeping tight-lipped about the actor’s previously announced role in the upcoming Thunderbolts film, a new rumor suggests that the Nope star will be joining the MCU as a race-swapped incarnation of the the solar-powered Sentry.
Word that the Sentry would possibly appear in the upcoming anti-hero ensemble film was first raised in December 2022 when Twitter scooper @CanWeGetToast celebrated their then-recent milestone of achieving 13,000 followers by sharing an image of the yellow-clad hero alongside a caption describing him as “The #Thunderbolts villain created by Valentina Allegra De Fontaine [as portrayed by Julia Louis-Dreyfus].”
A month later, the scooper would offer “a bit of clarification” regarding their scoop, informing their followers that “Yes, #Sentry is the PHYSICAL antagonist for the team, but the mastermind behind it all is Val.”
After yet another month, @CanWeGetToast would return to the topic to offer their own hopes for a potential Yeun-portrayed Sentry, tweeting “IF Steven Yeun is #Sentry, I hope his hair stays black and turns blonde when he powers up.”
“Our first live action Super Saiyan could be him,” the scooper optimistically added.
RELATED: Latest ‘Thunderbolts’ Rumor Claims To Reveal Film’s Primary Antagonist
Then, just five days later, the scooper retweeted his ‘Super Saiyan’ tweet and asserted, “So it looks like it’s NOT an ‘If’. Now I REALLY want a Super Saiyan power up sequence for him.”
Yeun’s apparent casting as Marvel’s mentally distraught analogue to Superman was also seemingly confirmed by noted film reporter Jeff Schneider.
Speaking with film critic John Rocha about the current production status of Thunderbolts during the March 30th episode of their The Hot Mic podcast, Sneider, seeking to keep his thoughts on the topic in order, asked his co-host, “Steven Yeun, right. We know he’s playing Sentry, right?”
Taken aback by this reveal, Rocha replied “Well, that’s what you’ve said, but we haven’t officially been told that,” to which Sneider simply smiled and moved the conversation along.
[Time Stamp: Overall Thunderbolts discussion begins at 37:00, Sneider speaks to Yeun’s role at 38:07]
This tip was also further put forward by James Clement, the co-host of The Weekly Planet podcast.
“Now, I’ve got a potential scoop here from someone, who’s been fairly reliable in the past,” said James during the February 26th episode of the show. “I spoke to somebody at Marvel – not a higher up necessarily – and this is the quote that they sent me: ‘We don’t even know who he’s playing, but my guess is Sentry, since there’s been whispers of that casting circulating a bit.’”
“So, he’s going to be in the Thunderbolts as Sentry, potentially,” he clarified. “That’s what somebody’s telling me who heard from somebody else.”
As for Yeun himself, while he has, as noted above, offered no word one way or the other regarding his MCU identity, the actor has teased that his role in the film will be very clearly defined.
“I don’t know if it was explicitly on my bucket list,” the Invincible voice actor told Empire Magazine in March. “It was more the story, getting to work with Jake Schreier again, who directed Beef, and what his intentions were. The intentions of the particular character that they wanted me to play were very clear, and that’s what drew me to the film.”
Given his South Korean ethnicity and the Sentry’s conception as a blonde-haired, blue-eyed white man, should Yeun actually portray the tortured hero, his role would mark yet another race-swap from Marvel, joining the mistreated ranks of other such classic characters as Namor the Sub-Mariner, Valkyrie, and practically all of the Eternals.
At current, the Thunderbolts are set to bring their lightning-like justice to theaters on July 26th, 2024.
