Thunderbolts* originally cast Invincible and The Walking Dead star Steven Yeun as The Sentry, marking a reunion for him and Beef director/executive producer Jake Schreier.
Scheduling issues caused by 2023's Hollywood strikes led to Yeun dropping out of the MCU movie, with Lessons in Chemistry actor Lewis Pulman later taking over the role of "Bob." That wasn't the only change, as Geraldine Viswanathan also replaced Ayo Edebiri.
It's now hard to imagine anyone other than Pullman bringing The Sentry to life on screen, but fans remain optimistic about Yeun potentially playing another character in the MCU.
In an interview with MovieWeb for Invincible Season 4, the actor confirmed he's seen Thunderbolts* and left the door open to returning to the franchise he was briefly attached to.
"I did [see it]. I love Jake, Jake Schreier, incredible human director," Yeun shared. "I did [see it] and I never say never. I'm around."
The Bear star Gillian Jacobs, who plays Invincible's Atom Eve, was also on hand and revealed her own Marvel fandom and a desire to bring a relatively obscure character to the screen in the MCU.
"I actually have a pitch. Do you know this comic, Dakota North? It was a short-run Marvel comic. I think that would make a great TV show," Jacobs shared. "However, they'll have me. I don't know. I just discovered that comic, and I think it's such a great world visually. It's such a fun character. So I've always liked Dakota North. Awesome."
A private eye, Dakota is perhaps best known for her stint in Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark's Daredevil, where she was hired by Nelson & Murdock as an investigator and bodyguard. She was recommended to Foggy Nelson by her friend Jessica Jones, who previously held the position but has had to relinquish it due to her responsibilities as a new mother.
Last year, Schreier revealed whether Pullman's taking over as The Sentry from Yeun led to any significant alterations in Thunderbolts*'s script.
"From a writing perspective, not a lot [changed]," he confirmed. "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. 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," the filmmaker added.
While it's a shame that Yeun couldn't work out his schedule to accommodate Thunderbolts*, many fans have argued that Pullman is a better fit for the character. He's also been on the cusp of a breakout role for a while now, and it feels a lot like The Sentry (and The Void) will be what puts him on the map.