How Lewis Pullman Made Sentry His Own After Steven Yeun Exited Thunderbolts*

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Jake Schreier, the director of Thunderbolts, discussed the fact that Lewis Pullman took over the character of Bob Reynolds/Sentry following Steven Yeun’s departure from the film project.

Marvel’s Thunderbolts* can now be rented or bought digitally, and it will hit 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD shelves on July 29, 2025. Initially, Yeun was chosen to portray Sentry in the MCU movie; however, he parted ways with the project in January 2024 due to a scheduling conflict stemming from production delays. Instead, Pullman stepped into the role.

*Note: The asterisk is used to indicate that “Thunderbolts” could be a fictional team or movie title within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

How did Lewis Pullman make Sentry his own after Steven Yeun exited Thunderbolts*?

In an exclusive conversation with ComingSoon, Schreier shared insights into his collaboration with Pullman and the methods taken by the Top Gun: Maverick star to personalize the Marvel Studios character.

Schreier expressed his gratitude for Lewis’ work, stating, “It was truly an enjoyable collaboration. Working with him was challenging due to his limited time to prepare, but he managed to play multiple aspects of one character seamlessly. I believe it’s the actor’s role to make these diverse sides feel integrated and to bring their own interpretation to the character. Lewis infused so much of himself and his unique ideas into that part.

On weekends, we’d often engage in enjoyable mapping exercises, reviewing the work from the past week. Our goal was to delve deeper into the concepts of Bob, the Sentry aspect and the Void aspect. These aren’t exactly good versus evil, but rather a mix of arrogance and despair. We aimed to identify which of these emotions he was expressing in each moment, sometimes even on a line-by-line basis. This way, we could create a sort of guide for where these emotions might lead us.

It appears there was a great deal of trust and openness required from his side. I was deeply appreciative of the depth he added to his role, and it was delightful to witness the rapport grow between him and Florence, as well as the rest of the team. I’m genuinely thrilled and joyful for him.

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2025-07-19 00:06