Thunderbolts: Marvel Already Has the Perfect Replacement for Steven Yeun’s Sentry in The Dark Knight Actor That’s Waiting to Explode

SUMMARY

• Thunderbolts suffered another blow with Steven Yeun's exit from the role of Sentry.
• While Steven Yeun would've been the perfect fit for such a complex character, another CBM star, who excelled in TDK, can be the perfect replacement for Yeun's Sentry.
• After a plethora of delays following the WGA and SAG AFTRA strike, Thunderbolts finally has a release date.

Like many other Hollywood productions, MCU’s Thunderbolts, which was announced at Disney’s D23 expo back in 2022, is also suffering from the impacts of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike. Following the delays caused by it, The Walking Dead Star Steven Yeun, who was initially set to play the most controversial Marvel superhero, is officially out following scheduling conflicts.

And while losing Yeun, who has been continually hitting it out of the park with his choice of projects, is a major letdown for Marvel fans, The Dark Knight Star Aaron Eckhart could be his perfect replacement.

Also read: Steven Yeun Calling Netflix’s ‘Beef’ as “Dumb Heat” After Al Pacino, Robert De Niro Movie Makes Perfect Sense

Sentry | Marvel Comics

Aaron Eckhart Can Be the Perfect Actor to Bring In for Sentry After Steven Yeun

Unlike a traditional superhero, Sentry, a.k.a. Robert Reynolds, isn’t exactly the ultimate hero as apart from having extraordinary physical feats, he also bears a dark side. Before landing powers, Reynolds suffers from substance abuse as he breaks into a lab and consumes the supersoldier serum in order to feed his addiction. Furthermore, after Becoming Sentry, it wasn’t all sunshine and roses for the character, as he had to constantly fight against his dark side, The Void, who, for his every good deed, would counteract it with an evil one.

Considering Steven Yeun often delves into complex roles, it’s reasonable to see why he initially took the part of Sentry, who constantly fights with his inner darkness. However, Aaron Eckhart could be the perfect choice after Yeun to tackle the superhero, as he is proven to be an exceptional actor when it comes to tackling characters with such inner turmoil. Following his performance as Harvey Dent in TDK, the acclaimed actor can perfectly pull off the tragedy of Sentry as he did with Dent, as Eckhart excelled in showcasing Dent’s gradual decline to the dark side.

Also read: Aaron Eckhart Was Never the First choice for Harvey Dent – Christopher Nolan Wanted Avengers Star for Two-Face in The Dark Knight

Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent

Thunderbolts Finally Has a Filming Date

Although the last few months have been tumultuous for both MCU and Thunderbolts, whose production was supposed to kickstart earlier this year, the movie finally has a filming date. Wyatt Russell, who will be reprising his part as John Walker in Thunderbolts, confirmed the filming is finally set to begin in April or March. He said (via The Hollywood Reporter),

“It just feels like we’re going for something that has depth and something interesting to theorise about beyond just flying around and doing superhero stuff.”

Also read: Not Fantastic 4, 5 Marvel Movies Could Be the MCU’s Saving Grace After a Series of Underwhelming Projects

Marvel’s Thunderbolts

With Steven Yeun out, it’ll be interesting to see whether Aaron Eckhart will be considered to mark his return to the comic book realm as Sentry or we’ll see some other actor in action as Reynolds.

Thunderbolts will hit theatres on 25 July 2025.

Written by Santanu Roy

Santanu Roy is a film enthusiast with a deep love for the medium of animation while also being obsessed with The Everly Brothers, Billy Joel, and The Platters. Having expertise in everything related to Batman, Santanu spends most of his time watching and learning films, with Martin Scorsese and Park Chan-wook being his personal favorites. Apart from pursuing a degree in animation, he also possesses a deep fondness for narrative-driven games and is currently a writer at Fandomwire with over 1000 articles.