Soon to enter the MCU in Thunderbolts*, the Golden Guardian of Good known as the Sentry is Marvel"s most powerful - and most troubled - hero. The hero"s backstory involves being removed from human memory multiple times, which makes it somewhat ironic that the hero was originally conceived with a totally different codename. Releasing May 1, Thunderbolts* stars Lewis Pullman as "Bob" - the civilian identity of the Sentry and his dark reflection the Void.
In a recent interview with Popverse, Sentry co-creator Rick Veitch bemoans his treatment by Marvel, branding the publisher "the House of Stolen Ideas" for allegedly erasing his credit for the character, conceived with Paul Jenkins and introduced in Sentry #1 by Jenkins and artist Jae Lee. However, while discussing his history with the character, Veitch also reveals the character"s original codename.
Custom Image by Milica Djordjevic
Veitch reveals that Sentry was developed to give Marvel its own "Superman class hero," with the key idea that the forgotten do-gooder had been erased from reality and existed with various different designs across the years. Sentry was intended to have a whole parallel history alongside Marvel"s heroes that had been forgotten, including different depictions of the character as characterized by real-world comic-book eras. Veitch reveals:
[indent] I think it was Paul who came up with the Sentry. I think we both realized that the name he brought to it, and I can"t remember what it was, it was like Crusader or something, it wasn"t really good. And then he came up with the idea of Sentry, and I was like, "Yeah, that"s great." We were really surprised that no one had ever done a superhero called the Sentry, so that was a really cool thing.
[/indent] As part of the marketing around Sentry, Marvel initially pretended the character had been created and subsequently forgotten by Stan Lee.
Related Marvel's Most Powerful Hero Just Got a Cosmic Secret Origin As the Defenders travel back through Marvel history, they discover two cosmic gods whose identities reveal new truths about the ultra-powerful Sentry.
Posts Sentry Was Almost The Crusader The Hero's Name Nailed the Idea of a Long-Lost Character Sentry is indeed the perfect name for a time-lost hero, striking the perfect balance between something that sounds genuinely cool in the modern day while also being tinged with the "gee whiz" spirit of the 30s-50s, known as the Golden Age of comics. It"s also unique, unlike the original suggestion of "Crusader." Over the years, Marvel has had several characters who use the codename "Crusader," including:

• Rogue and Captain America"s alt-universe daughter
• A Skrull hero who can alter reality within a small radius around him
• An anti-pagan villain who fought Thor

Sadly, while Veitch, Jenkins and Lee came up with a unique name and character, the former now feels disconnected from his alleged creation, confirming that he hasn"t kept up with his character, and that beyond the initial miniseries, "I haven"t really read those comics." Sadly, this is the latest in a long line of creators expressing frustration at their treatment by Marvel, raising the question of how much longer writers will risk taking their characters to the pulisher, no matter what their codename.
Source: Popverse
Sentry Like Follow Followed Thunderbolts* PG-13 Adventure Action Sci-Fi 8/10 Release Date May 2, 2025 Runtime 126 Minutes Director Jake Schreier Writers Eric Pearson, Joanna Calo Franchise(s) Marvel Cinematic Universe Cast See All Florence Pugh Yelena Belova Sebastian Stan James Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier Powered by Expand Collapse

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