As we prepare for some fantastic First Steps a few months later (four fantastic steps actually), Marvel gave us another good look at Thunderbolts*, the last film to close up the current MCU phase, yesterday during the Super Bowl. However, just like our first big look, the video mainly focused on reintroducing us to its motley crew, but it also included some intriguing glimpses of what those would-be heroes are up against. And it’s not very good.

Although Marvel is still mostly skirting the issue, it was undeniable that Lewis Pullman’s “Bob” in Thunderbolts was Robert Reynolds, also known as Sentry, Marvel’s most well-known comic book equivalent of Superman. Bob was hardly visible in the previous trailer, and he is even less visible in the new one. Sort of. Even while the trailer doesn’t show much of Bob as the man who would become Sentry, it does show a lot of mayhem and carnage caused by a character that resembles the Man of Steel.

And they’re the same dude. Here’s the Big Game spot (also known as the Super Bowl…stupid lawyers)

The Void Explained

Robert “Bob” Reynolds, known as Sentry, is a character created by Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee. His first appearance was in Sentry #1 back in 2000. Sentry gets his powers from an experimental super-soldier serum, which allows him to gain enormous strength, flight, and energy manipulation. But when Bob loses control, the serum produces The Void, a violent alter ego.

His latent darkness manifests as the Void, which brings chaos and devastation. To grimly balance the scales of his career as Sentry, the Void continued to exist in Robert’s consciousness as a violent part that emerged beyond his control and without his genuine understanding. Robert believed the Void differed from him and his arch-enemy. It would take years of research before Robert understood that Sentry and Void were two sides of the same coin. The Void wanted to take a life for every life that Robert saved as Sentry. A grim way of balancing the scales of justice. Pretty evil, huh?

After the Void killed a million people in Manhattan at the end of his first miniseries, Robert collaborated with Mr. Fantastic and Doctor Strange to devise a plan to free himself from the Void’s hold. By wiping out not only Robert’s memory of his abilities and time as Sentry but also the memory of the entire world, the Void would no longer need to appear as a sinister counterpoint to Sentry’s actions, ostensibly destroying the two. You gotta read the comic book. It’s terrific.

What Are the Void’s Powers?

The Void is effectively the same person as Sentry but with all of Robert’s abilities and the urge to utilize them for evil purposes. He does, however, have some unique skills that stem from them, as the latest Thunderbolts trailer demonstrates. In addition to changing Robert’s shape, the Void projects clouds and dark matter tendrils, like the one that envelops New York in the movie, using Robert’s power to control matter and energy. The potency of Void’s “tendrils” can also change; their most concentrated form can cause atomic cancellation in a person’s body, destroying them as the field supporting their atomic and subatomic particles dissipates (science stuff!), or they might merely trap and subjugate opponents.

The emergence of The Void is hinted at in the teaser, which shows New York City submerged in darkness. In keeping with The Void’s capacity to sow terror and devour all in its path, Bob seems to be the culprit, transforming bystanders into shadows.

Void is mainly tied to Sentry, although he may also inhabit hosts other than Robert, as seen by his incorporation into Knull following Robert’s passing. This means that one of the deadliest threats in the Marvel Comics universe may be able to be stopped when the Thunderbolts confront him in May without even killing poor Bob.

What Are the Connections to the MCU?

Thanos was a major villain in Phase One. Void is doing something similar. Both were obsessed with bringing “balance” to the universe. Thanos destroys half of all life, and Bob wants to balance the lives he saves as Sentry with death as the Void.

Sentry was created using a variation of the Super-Soldier serum that created Captain America. Several members of the Thunderbolts – Bucky Barnes, U.S. Agent, and Red Guardian – have a connection to Super-Soldier experiments. 

It seems like Thunderbolts is taking the MCU in a new direction, and I’m here for it. 

“Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts*” is scheduled for release on May 2, 2025 (United States)
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