As much as Marvel promotes its more well-known superheroes, it is remarkable how little attention they have paid to a hero with “the power of a million exploding suns.” It is, without a doubt, the Sentry. Do not feel bad if you cannot remember who this character is since Marvel has not exactly done him credit.
In fact, he is likely the only Marvel superhero whose existence has been erased from the Marvel Universe’s history, with even Spiderman and Professor Xavier forgetting about him. Sentry, who has a superhero attitude comparable to Superman’s, has yet to gain the recognition he deserves. We will be investigating the journey of the most undervalued Marvel superhero in this video, which was created by Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee with uncredited conceptual contributions by Rick Veitch.
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How a meth addict became a superhero!
The initial stage of the story goes back to March 1947. Canada’s Department K, which was responsible for reviving the original Weapon X program, anad United States’ Operation: Rebirth, where Captain America came into being, merged their resources to become Project: Sentry. It started as a mission to not only recreate the Super Soldier Serum but also amplify its powers a hundred thousand times.
However, due to interference from Cold War politics, the project had been fragmented about a thousandfold into discrete sub-projects with lab work transferred to private contractors in thirty years’ time. At this point, the Project’s overall administration was practically non-existent. It was then unknown where all of its resources ended up. One such work had reached the hands of an unnamed professor who had managed to perfect the formula into the Golden Sentry Serum.
Now, after almost ten years, Robert Reynolds, a high school student who is a meth addict and also loves his dog a lot, snuck into the laboratory of this professor where he found and consumed the Golden Sentry Serum. This gave Robert Reynolds the power of a million exploding suns. He had a sudden glow, and his muscles expanded. It resulted in the deaths of his partner and the lab’s guards. He then requested that the Professor create more for him.
Later on, Project: Sentry tried to persuade Reynolds to allow them to test the extent of his powers at their facility, but they were unable to keep him there for long. He wanted to use his powers for the greater good of all. And so, the Sentry, the Golden Guardian of good, made his first appearance in front of the world that had almost forgotten about superhuman Samaritans. Reynolds stitched together a costume and made his debut as the heroic Sentry after defeating the school bullies who had mistreated him.
Sentry soon became a hero whom society had accepted as one of their own. It might come as a surprise, but he had also found allies in Iron Man, the Hulk, Mister Fantastic, Spider-Man, and Professor X. Sentry was among the few superheroes operating in the years leading up to the formation of the Fantastic Four. His importance only grew as the new wave of heroes was gaining fame.
In fact, after immediately deducing Spiderman’s secret identity, he became a role model for the young hero. The Sentry also fought alongside the Fantastic Four against Doctor Doom, defeating his deadliest foe, the General, with the help of the X-Men.
The first comic book appearance explored
Robert “Bob” Reynolds made his first appearance in the Marvel Comics’ Marvel Knights line in The Sentry Issue #1 in September 2000 as a miniseries that ran for five issues.
In the middle of the night, Bob started to feel as if something dangerous was coming. There seemed to be a voice in his head telling him a story. The kind of story you only hear in comic books or TV shows. The Void has been asleep for years, but he can feel him now. He can sense that the Void is coming back. That is when he started having flashbacks in his head about a time in his life when he was humanity’s only hope.
The story that we have discussed earlier of how he became the Sentry flashes before his eyes. But he refuses to believe it. He thinks these memories are perhaps from a show he saw as a child. He was known to the world as the Sentry, who held the power of a million exploding suns. It turns out he even helped Spiderman during one of his missions to save the people of his city.
It is as if his long-lost memories are finally coming back to him. Memories of how he had rescued the Avengers from the hands of the Void. He had fought alongside them in order to defeat the Void. He also recalls his conversation with the unnamed professor whose serum he injected. The professor told him that his powers were limitless and that he is, in fact, immortal.
His memories serve as evidence of how the Sentry has always chosen his duty to save the galaxy above all else. But the one greatest threat he ever encountered is on the verge of returning. Just then, he feels as if his dog is the void, and it is speaking to him, threatening him. Overcome by madness, he kicks his dog, and his wife Lindy discovers him in this state.
He has always been a drunkard, but after seeing that he has still not stopped drinking, she decides to go away for a while. The voice inside his head, the Void, speaks to him constantly and instructs him to let her go. It tells him that he has to become the Sentry once again for the sake of humanity. He must put on the Sentry Suit once more. However, the suit we see him wearing is different from his memories. So is this all even real?
And there it is, the voice, telling him the complete opposite now. That he is not a hero, but just an ordinary private citizen. The Void does not seem to leave him alone. It convinces Bob that he only thinks that he was once a powerful being known as the Sentry when in reality, he is someone who just drinks too much. A strange echo returns in his head, reminding him of his past.
It would appear that he is recalling his past as the Sentry as though reading a comic book written about the character. He witnessed the Void destroying the city where he now stands. That day, all that was left of Manhattan was just a vast, black hole. He is soon greeted by Reed, who does not remember him. Robert confesses that somehow everyone had been conditioned to forget he ever existed, and that’s why Reed can’t remember anything.
It, of course, all sounds like the talk of a drunk idiot to Reed. Bob then asks Reed to try and remember a wedding he went to and says the word ‘Unicorn’. Something clicks in Reed’s mind as if a suppressed memory that he was not allowed to know. We then meet the rest of the Fantastic Four, who, by the way, has a unicorn showpiece. Robert, on the other hand, tries to convince him that he could not have been a hero.
Stan Lee’s poster returns, and this time, it appears to be the wedding of the Sentry. It is Robert and Lindy on their wedding day. He confesses to her that he is the Sentry, a secret that she already seems to know. Back at the Fantastic Four’s base, Reed and Sue are having a hard time recalling where in the hell that unicorn came from. A unicorn that gives them a sense of déjà vu.
We find out that they were present at Robert’s wedding. In fact, the whole crew, Reed, Sue, Johnny, Ben, Captain America, Tony Stark, and Thor. After all, it was the Sentry’s wedding. It turns out that the unicorn was a gift from Robert to his best man, Reed Richards, Mister Fantastic. Well, if that’s how close a bond they shared, how can Reed not know him anymore?
Robert finally accepts to himself that all of it is real. He is the Sentry, the Golden Guardian of Good, and his greatest enemy, the Void, is coming back to Earth. He floats in on the night winds and steals human souls. No one knows where he comes from, but he is definitely real.
Now, Reed and Sue find out that the Unicorn had a hidden video labeled the wedding videotaped on it. Guess who appeared on the screen when they turned it on? A warning from Reed from the past states that if the future Reed is watching this video, that means that they are all about to die.
Now that Robert is starting to remember his past, he is transforming into the Sentry once again. His eyes glow yellow, and he meets the Hulk. Calling him the Golden Man, it looks like the Hulk is the only one who remembers him. From the looks of it, he has not been Bruce Banner for quite some time. Maybe that’s the reason why he remembers the Sentry.
Sentry doesn’t know how but some form of mass hypnosis must have taken place, which is why no one even knows of his existence. But he has returned because of the Void. Now, the Fantastic Four, on the other hand, are shocked by that video. The Reed from the past tells them that Robert Reynolds is the Sentry and the danger heading their way is the Void. That is why Robert has finally remembered.
Through their database, Reed finds out that Reynolds is who he says he is, but according to his social security number, he died years ago. Still wrapped in confusion, one thing is clear someone has gone to an awful lot of trouble to keep it a secret. After that, the Sentry goes to meet Spiderman. And of course, even he doesn’t remember him, despite the fact that Sentry just called him Peter.
They are hanging up on a tower when Spiderman sees that Bob can fly. This makes him think that this is probably one of Mysterio’s tricks. Bob is trying to jog Peter’s memories and tells him that he knows Bob as the Sentry, and the last time they met, Peter was working for the Daily Bugle and took a close-up photograph of the Sentry, which won him a Pulitzer Prize.
They also fought the void together last time, and Spiderman helped the Sentry. But Spiderman seems to ignore him, as he is supposed to, because of whatever made him forget the Sentry in the first place. Reed finds paper cutouts that mention the Sentry in them, and then Stephen Strange appears. Indeed, Reed Richards has always been a curious man. But the fate of the world now depends on the choice Reed will make. To remember the man from those folders or to forget him once again.
Dr. Strange shows an event from their past to Reed, so it seems like Dr. Strange is well aware of who Sentry is. In this memory, it is clear that Richards himself asked Dr. Strange that if they ever start to remember the Sentry, he must do everything that he can to make them forget. While Richards tries to come to a decision, Sentry has contacted Charles Xavier, Professor X, through what looks like a psychic link.
Even Professor Xavier does not exactly remember who Sentry is, but he can sense that this is a friend. But it is as though his own mind is blocking him from remembering Sentry as if it is wrong to do so. Finally, at last, Xavier recalls, in bits and pieces, that he knows Sentry, and he also knows the Void.
Now, making their first-ever appearance is S.H.E. Super Heroes of Europe. Many years ago, the nations of Europe established the S.H.E., an alliance of European-based super-humans sworn to safeguarding the continent from all threats and serving as a global peacekeeping force. Here, we see that the members of S.H.E. are being defeated one after the other by a dark force whom we know as the Void.
We are taken back to Spiderman, who can’t seem to figure out why certain issues of the Clarion magazine are missing. They seem to have never been printed. And then, at last, he remembers Sentry, taking his picture, his merchandise, and everything starts to come back to him.
Next, Reynolds goes to meet Tony Stark. Sentry’s past is slowly unfolding now. Something happened, but none of them recall what it was. And then we have another flashback where the Fantastic Four and the Avengers are present. It is the time after they all defeated the void. The fate of Sentry is being discussed. It appears that Robert had been relying on his serum more than he should have. And that came with its repercussions.
Iron Man stood up for the Sentry because it was he who had helped the Avengers countless times. But someone from the group suggested that the Sentry must die; only then can we be sure that the Void will never return to Earth. Sentry was sent away, but no one knows who did it. For now, the heroes are utterly scared to know that the Void is coming back.
It’s as if now that Sentry is starting to remember his past, so is the rest of the world. Remember the battle with the Void in Manhattan that Sentry talked about? It turns out his sidekick, Billy Turner, better known as Scout, was gravely hurt and lost his arm. And now, as he walks on the edge of the city, Sentry finally discovers what he and everyone were supposed to forget. His fortress, The Watchtower, is situated in a place that was wiped out from everyone’s memory because Sentry had to be sent away.
We are taken inside the Watchtower for the first time, where we meet C.L.O.C., who is kind of similar to Stark’s Jarvis. C.L.O.C. is the Centrally Located Organic Computer that assisted Sentry. It looks like CLOC has had a virus implanted in it by Sentry himself. A transmitter that CLOC claims Sentry set in place and ordered not to disable it. But something is wrong, Sentry knows what happened in his Watchtower, but he just can’t seem to recall it.
Probably whoever made Sentry-go away was the one who did this as well. Whoever it was, they obviously knew his systems inside out. As Sentry tries to disable the transmitter manually, something happens. The effects of this speed out of the watchtower, and in an instant, as if waking from a long dream, people start to remember him, bringing him back from oblivion.
His fans were now able to look at his posters. Even Billy’s memories of being Scout started to return. From humans to animals, everyone now remembers Sentry. But along with that, their memories of a dark entity, the Void, had also returned. All the pieces in Sentry’s puzzle now fit together. He remembered that he had died. The difference was that he did not really die; instead, he was made to pretend as if he had.
He saw his own funeral and heard his best friend, Mister Fantastic, give the eulogy. He fabricated a lie. Your best friend would be the last person you’d ever expect to be the one to betray you. That’s the fate Sentry endured. He told the public that Sentry was not a hero in the eulogy. He took bribes in order to finance his addiction, and he was just another criminal who used his power for murder and other violent crimes.
Mister Fantastic was the one who created CLOC and sent Sentry away, and killed him in the eyes of the people. But why? Just like the rest of them, even Lindy finally remembered who her husband actually is. But it looks like the speed with which everyone remembered Sentry is also the speed with which the Void finally arrived. However, not in his entirely strong form, perhaps, just to threaten Sentry. It does beg the question, was it Void who made Sentry remember everything?
The Sentry makes sure to tell the public that the sudden climactic disturbance, the storm portends the return of the Void. Through a national broadcast, he requests his fellow heroes to come to his aid because the Void is a threat to their very existence. Something more significant than any threat that the world has ever faced before. Now, what do you know? Of course, they were going to come. The heroes have always loved a good fight, right!
All of them arrive for Sentry to lead them and, once again, go up against the Void. Indeed, it gives a similar feeling to the one during “Avengers Assemble” from Endgame.
The Sentry in Civil War
We all know that the Civil War began when the U.S. government passed a Superhuman Registration Act intending to put super-powered individuals under official government control, similar to law enforcement. Now, the question is, which side did the Sentry actually choose.
The Sentry supported Iron Man’s Pro-Registration program during the Superhuman Civil War. In a battle between the New Avengers, Sentry thought that his actions would only lead to the destruction of the people he loved no matter what he did. So, he decided to escape to the moon. There he was met by the Inhumans, a reclusive race of genetically altered superhumans. They perceived him as a threat and ordered him to follow them to Black Bolt’s location in the Moon’s “Blue Area.”
It turned out that the Inhumans were still unaware of the events of the Civil War. So, after a brief chat, he was able to restore his acquaintance with them and also tried to rekindle his past relationship with Crystal. Later on, the Sentry was confronted by Iron Man, who was trying to recruit heroes for his Pro-Registration program. He was able to convince Sentry to join him by promising to help Captain America, who was against the registration, realize that the world is evolving.
He wished to end this dirty political inclusion, but he knew that he had no other choice than to become a part of it for a while in order to bring it to an end. So, eventually, Sentry also joined a S.H.I.E.L.D. unit to fight Wolverine. He knocked Wolverine out and gave him over to S.H.I.E.L.D.
Three days after the final conflict of the Civil War, the Sentry officially confirmed his support for the Registration Act. The ensuing chaos led to the formation of the newest version of the Avengers squad, and Tony Stark himself recruited the Sentry to be a part of the Mighty Avengers. What’s that they say? All’s well that ends well.
Why he is one of the most powerful superheroes!
Upon looking at the Sentry’s costume, you might find a hint of inspiration from DC’s Superman. Well, that’s not exactly where it ends. Among all the heroes in Marvel, Sentry has one of the most extraordinary superpowers: the power of a million exploding suns. This apparently grants him the power equivalent to that of stars going nova. Clearly, it stands as a tribute to Superman’s solar-based power set.
It is also speculated that Sentry can channel the sun’s power or any other light source to use it as a weapon. It practically means energy projection. It is rather common for superheroes who can control energy to do so. But what puts Sentry on a higher level than the rest is the intensity of his energy blasts. They have been revealed to be capable of burning the Hulk’s skin and even destroying entire towns. He can also manipulate the light surrounding him to blind his opponents.
Indeed, the Sentry can be considered as Marvel’s own twisted version of DC’s Superman. Well, despite that, Sentry is definitely one of Marvel’s most powerful superheroes. Just take a good look at his figure. He has the jacked body that every bodybuilder and weightlifter dreams of achieving. All thanks to the experimental scientific formula. Captain America’s scientists would be pretty jealous of that!
Anyway, as a result of the experiment, he also no longer feels fatigued. His agility also saw a significant immediate increase. It goes without saying that his balance and mobility surpass even the greatest of athletes on Earth.
A major side of the Sentry is explored in the significant crossover narrative, Siege, where Norman Osborn besieges Asgard. Asgard is situated in Broxton, Oklahoma, and Norman Osborn has been granted command of the Earth’s global security network as well as his own Dark Avengers squad. In an attempt to stop Osborn, the original Avengers join the pantheon of gods in defending Asgard.
When it appears that Osborn might lose, he lets loose his hidden weapon, the Sentry. It is here that we find out the secret behind the Sentry’s god-like powers. It turns out that he is the actual Angel of Death. At Osborn’s command, he unleashes destruction reminiscent of the Old Testament. This showcase of his true strength only proves that the Sentry is all the more capable of being a devilish villain to humanity. Luckily for us, he is not.
Almost every superhero, at some point, has been forced to deal with the dark side of humanity. Where there is good, there will also be evil. Captain America represents the best of what the country can be, but on the other hand, the Red Skull represents the worst parts of the human condition. Similarly, even the Sentry had to deal with something more profound than an ordinary villain.
Obviously, it’s the Void, the Sentry’s second personality, and the threat we discussed before. He is equally as powerful as the Sentry. You see how every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Well, the Sentry may have the strength of a million exploding suns, but the Void is the darkness that those suns leave behind and also the death that nuclear destruction brings.
Call it his alter ego or the dark aspect of his own powers; the Void makes him his own worst enemy. That probably explains why the Avengers have been hesitant to include Sentry in their team. Well, despite that, let’s not forget that he had to deal with the consequences. Also, he certainly has much greater qualities that have, in fact, helped the team in their missions.
In terms of nanoseconds, Sentry’s superhuman reflexes or reaction speed is faster than the speed of sound. The Spidey tingle would be quite envious of that. Sentry demonstrated this by catching a sniper bullet shot from a Skrull gun, which apparently has a higher muzzle velocity than modern Earth weapons. He has even been revealed to be faster than Thor when it comes to reacting. His sensory organs, including his eyes and ears, are far superior to even Marvel aliens.
He can tune his hearing to any frequency and is also capable of hearing the heartbeat of a butterfly on the other side of the world. Now that is a power that vampires would want to have. Sentry can also detect a person coming from hundreds of miles away or in the air, even if they are above cloud level.
To accompany those reflexes, Sentry can also move at superhuman speeds and even stop bullets in mid-flight. This movement also converts into flight and allows him to undertake interplanetary travel to the sun in a matter of minutes. Sentry might as well be traveling faster than the speed of light because it needs approximately eight minutes for the light from the sun to reach the Earth.
As a result, Sentry should be able to cover light-year distances as if they were merely short walks to the park for him. Clearly, his speed even renders Thor to go silent with an inferiority complex. So it looks like Sentry is a competition even for the god of thunder.
What also confirms Sentry’s status as a great candidate for the Avengers is his superhuman strength. It might come as a shock, but Sentry is capable of going on a hands-on battle with Worldbreaker Hulk, whom the fans consider the strongest Hulk version. If you have not realized it already, let me tell you that he can also easily battle Thor, She-Hulk, and Captain Marvel all at once.
As if that wasn’t enough, we can just ask Sentry to sit outside and take sunbathe, not to get a tan, of course, but to absorb more of the sun’s radiation to increase his strength.
A quite surprising power he possesses was discovered during one of his battles with Molecule Man. He was turned into a liquid which rendered him useless in the fight. But soon enough, Molecule Man received a surprise when the Sentry was able to recover. So, it has been assumed that Sentry, like Molecule Man, possesses molecular manipulation powers. As a result, he was able to overcome Molecule Man.
Although let’s not get ahead of ourselves because he lacks Molecule Man’s level of proficiency in this area. In fact, Sentry has no idea how he achieved it or how to control it. Probably it was Void who might have brushed up on Sentry’s molecular manipulation during their countless encounters.
What makes Sentry different from the other superheroes is that he can share some of his basic superpowers with other people. Similarly, the way DC’s Shazam does it. So, anyone who is friends with Robert Reynolds or Sentry is in for a treat. In comic books, the benevolent superhero has displayed this talent several times. However, one of the most significant power-sharing incidents was when Sentry shared it with Billy Turner.
That is the reality of how the kid became Scout, Sentry’s sidekick. It appears that Sentry can also pass on some parts of his essence to creatures such as the Hulk, allowing the green monster to defend himself from Sentry’s evil dark side.
Keeping his physical attributes aside, Sentry is a rather psychologically complex character. Despite the similarities he shares with Superman, there are certain aspects that make him visibly different from simply being a muscular Superman copycat. It turns out that he also has telepathy and other psychic abilities that are almost on par with the X-Men’s omega-level mutants.
In fact, one of the strongest telepaths, Emma Frost, who is capable of matching Professor X, also declared that Sentry was the most potent telepath she had ever met. Sentry also gave us proof to support Emma’s claim. Remember the time when Sentry was wiped out from everyone’s memory? Well, it turns out that he was the one who did it, with the help of Mister Fantastic and Dr. Strange.
The extent of this telepathic power is genuinely insane. He definitely is on the level same as a god if he can make the entire world forget about him. Sentry’s telepathic powers are not really restricted to telepathy; he has also demonstrated that he can stop a full-speed Mjolnir with psychokinetic methods. Now that has got to give Thor some severe power struggle issues.
Sentry’s biokinesis ability is also linked to his molecular manipulation. He can alter biological material to some extent. This is something that both he and Void are capable of. At one point, Robert Reynolds was able to treat his therapist’s daughter’s coma and spinal abnormalities. On the other hand, Void caused a widow to have terminal breast cancer with a simple gesture.
But the most witchy thing he is capable of doing is raising someone from the dead. Yeah, it turns out he can do necromancy as well. This transpired when Ultron murdered his wife. Sentry became emotionally traumatized after witnessing her corpse and was able to bring her back from the dead with just a touch. So, it’s safe to assume that he probably has the ability to resurrect anybody; he is just unaware of how to do it.
Now, among all his other fantastic abilities, what’s most crucial is that Sentry is also immortal, thanks to the serum that made him. This implies that he can’t die and also does not age, just like Captain America. In addition to that, he is also invulnerable, which means he is immune to both physical pain and conventional weapons.
His only vulnerability appears to be his frail state of mind, which is sensitive to psychic attacks. Still, even superheroes like Dr. Strange find it really hard to attack him. Strange himself stated that Sentry is far too strong for magic and thus can withstand mental attacks, particularly when he is in control of his mind. Whatever the case may be, it looks like no one on Earth knows how to stop or kill Sentry. No one except the Sentry himself.
So, looks like that professor was stating facts when he said Sentry’s powers were limitless. If this does not make him the strongest Marvel superhero, then I don’t think anyone else stands a chance in the race. Despite his turmoil with the Void and every mental difficulty he has to face due to the side effects of the serum, Sentry is never deterred from his path as the Golden Guardian of Good. If there is one thing that has been common in his mind, it is that no matter the cost, he will protect the people of the world and fulfill his duty.
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