26 Years Ago, Marvel’s Best Ever Trick Introduced The MCU’s Most Powerful Hero

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The Marvel Cinematic Universe has changed over time, but it still delivers enjoyable films, such as Thunderbolts. This movie felt smaller in scope and focused more on the characters and their personal struggles, rather than a world-ending threat. Although it wasn’t about saving the universe, it did introduce a remarkably powerful character to the MCU: the Sentry. Bob Reynolds is a complex individual battling inner demons, who accidentally gained incredible powers after experimenting with a super-soldier serum. This also unleashed his greatest foe, the Void. While there are some great Sentry comic book stories, many fans actually prefer a different, non-comic version of his tale.

In 1998, Marvel brought in artists Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti as editors, tasking them with revitalizing some of their lesser-known characters, including Daredevil, Black Panther, the Inhumans, and the Punisher. The resulting ‘Marvel Knights’ line was mostly a hit, though the Punisher reboot didn’t quite succeed. Fans particularly enjoyed Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee’s take on The Inhumans, a 12-issue series praised for its careful character development and beautiful artwork. Given how well Jenkins and Lee worked together, it was natural to team them up again. Twenty-six years ago, they announced their next project, which created a lot of excitement in the comic book world.

Marvel Pushed the New Jenkins/Lee Book With the Most Surprising Ad Campaign Possible

I remember reading about this in Wizard: The Guide to Comics – it was huge back in the ’90s and early 2000s. They ran a piece about Artie Rosen, an artist who’d worked at Marvel with legends like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko back in the ’60s, but never got the chance to create his own comic series. Then, not long after, they reported finding a character Stan Lee and Artie Rosen had apparently created together – basically, Marvel’s attempt at a Superman type! The idea was to give this powerful character the classic Marvel twist – a hero with flaws. It was weird because Lee himself didn’t remember working on it, and Marvel’s archives didn’t have much information about him either. It felt like a real lost piece of Marvel history.

Several months after the discovery of some notes at Marvel, it was revealed that Paul Jenkins and Lee Weeks would be collaborating on a story about a previously overlooked character. This became their next comic book project, much to the delight of fans, and eventually led to the release of The Sentry #1. The story centers around Bob Reynolds, a man struggling with agoraphobia, a wife, and a dog, who begins to recall a past life as a superhero. As his memories return, a powerful and ominous force starts heading towards him, prompting him to travel to New York City to confront the heroes he vaguely remembers.

Readers eventually learned that the character was once a superhero called the Sentry, a teammate of Marvel’s original 1960s heroes like the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, the Avengers, and the Hulk. An experimental formula gave him immense power – described as equivalent to a million exploding suns – but also created a dangerous alternate personality called the Void. Whenever he used his powers, the Void would attack humanity, growing stronger with each use. To stop this, the other heroes erased everyone’s memories, including his own, hoping to contain the Void. When his memories returned, the Void reappeared, forcing them to make the difficult decision to wipe his mind again to save the world. The Sentry’s backstory was complex – and became even more so with later additions – but the story itself was compelling. Ultimately, it was all based on a deception.

A follow-up article in Wizard magazine later exposed the entire story as a carefully constructed hoax. There was no previously unknown Stan Lee Marvel character, and ‘Artie Rosen’ was entirely fabricated. Joe Quesada, Jimmy Palmiotti, Paul Jenkins, Stan Lee, and the staff of Wizard (based in Congers, New York, close to Marvel’s offices) collaborated on an advertising campaign designed to generate excitement for a new comic book. The idea of a ‘forgotten character’ stemmed from a story Jenkins had proposed, inspired by a project he and Rick Veitch had discussed years before. When the truth came out, fans discovered the elaborate joke behind the ad campaign. Wizard was the leading comic magazine at the time – I’d been a subscriber since the early 90s – and this was exactly the kind of clever tactic needed to grab the attention of cynical comic book readers in the 2000s. The campaign was incredibly successful.

The Sentry Remains the Best Trick Marvel Ever Played

I didn’t start using the internet until after 2001, so I missed the initial fan reaction to this reveal. However, the letters section in Wizard magazine – which I always enjoyed, particularly when Jim McLaughlin was responding – mostly showed positive feedback. I personally found it funny. It was a joke unique to the comic book world at that time, and it’s a big reason why I’ve always been a fan of the Sentry. Looking back, the boldness of the hoax is really impressive, and yes, Stan Lee was definitely involved!

This situation could have easily caused a major negative reaction. While the lie itself wasn’t harmful, fans in dedicated communities generally don’t appreciate being misled by creators. Comic book fans, in particular, can be quite passionate and vocal – and back then, this kind of playful deception was just part of what made being a fan so enjoyable. It feels like it would cause much more of a problem today.

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2026-02-06 02:15