Introducing This Marvel Comics Hero Would Completely Wreck The MCU

In the last decade and a half, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has flourished from its humble beginnings with 2008's "Iron Man" and "The Incredible Hulk" to an all-out battle to save the universe from the Mad Titan, Thanos (Josh Brolin), in "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Endgame." During that time, Marvel Studios set up various factions of heroes across the universe, with the Avengers protecting Earth alongside a talented group of sorcerers led by Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Wong (Benedict Wong). Meanwhile, across the cosmos, the lovable rogues of "Guardians of the Galaxy" cause mayhem and mischief while occasionally saving the universe.

Marvel head honcho Kevin Feige has masterfully created an ongoing tapestry of heroes and villains that continues to enchant audiences and rake in billions at the box office. But the most recent phase of the MCU has focused on introducing new characters like Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), Shang-Chi (Simu Liu), the horde of immortal defenders in "Eternals," and Oscar Isaac's troubled vigilante in "Moon Knight." Of course, there's more to come too, with shows like "Ms. Marvel," "She-Hulk," and "Ironheart" all heading to Disney+ in the near future.

Marvel is clearly dedicated to keeping the MCU fresh, and new blood is the most obvious way to do that. But not every hero who has graced the pages of Marvel's comics over the years needs to jump into live action — and there's one who would completely wreck the MCU because of their immense abilities and near limitless power: Sentry.

Comic readers will probably already understand why we're focusing on Sentry — mainly because he has fantastic powers that put him head and shoulders above the rest of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Sentry's real name is Robert Reynolds, and he's a by-product of the U.S. and Canada's attempts to re-create the Super-Soldier Serum that gave Steve Rogers his enhanced abilities as Captain America. Project: Sentry was founded after the war in 1947, and its goal was to create a version of the serum that would be exponentially more powerful than the original formula.

But they seemingly couldn't create something stable enough to mass-produce, and the project faltered into a number of different subdivisions over the years. But when drug addict Robert Reynolds broke into a random laboratory looking for a fix, he stumbled onto the Golden Sentry Serum, which granted him super strength, super speed, flight, immortality, teleportation, invisibility, psionic powers, and a regenerative healing factor. He can even resurrect himself from the dead. He was created by Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee in "Sentry" #1 back in 2000, and he's got more powers than you can shake an Infinity Gauntlet at (via Marvel Database).

Sentry's numerous abilities make him practically invincible and dwarf those of any of the costumed crusaders in the MCU. So what's the point? These movies always revolve around a hero overcoming something greater than themselves, and if they're too powerful, then it gets rid of any tension in a situation because the audience knows they can just use one of their many abilities to save the day.

Basically, Sentry is Marvel's answer to Superman. There's no way to avoid it; that's just who he is — even down to the big "S" symbol on his costume. And no, before you say it, Superman isn't boring, and neither is Sentry. Yes, having too many incredible powers can make a character feel untouchable. After all, who needs to worry about Thanos, Kang the Conqueror, or the Multiverse when you can defeat anyone? (Well, almost anyone, but we'll get to that.)

This is without mentioning that audiences aren't stupid. Even general moviegoers would recognize Sentry as being Marvel's Superman, and cramming that into the MCU — which already has plenty of iconic heroes — risks feeling cheap. But much like in the live-action versions of the Man of Steel, the writers' approach is key in translating the character to the big screen.

Balancing godlike powers with a meaningful story is how writers make audiences fall in love with superheroes. Although Marvel Studios plays fast and loose with how it adapts the source material, there's probably a way it can make Sentry an emotionally relatable character. In fact, tapping into his weakness would be the easiest option — but it also comes with a heavy narrative price.

If all of Sentry's powers aren't enough to ruin Marvel's semi-realistic approach to comic-book movies, Sentry's evil alter ego would definitely derail it. The Void is an equally powerful negative force that bonds with Robert Reynolds when he first becomes Sentry — and it becomes his nemesis because it has all of his powers, with none of his heroism. In fact, a huge part of Sentry's life simply revolves around keeping the Void trapped inside his body — because if it gets loose, it could end all life in the universe. So no pressure.

When the Void first starts plaguing Robert, it slaughters one million people in New York during its reign of terror — just to give you an idea of how big Sentry's stories are. Unfortunately, it's that incredibly tired trope of a supervillain having the exact same powers and skill set as the hero. But admittedly, the Void being the same person as Sentry is more compelling than typical superhero stories.

Considering how chaotic and destructive the Void is, the damage it does would have to be similar to what Thanos achieves in the "Avengers" movies. Obviously, this could be a brilliant event movie if it was done on the same scale — but the fallout would have to ripple through the MCU to make the devastation feel meaningful enough. In fact, a fascinating moment from the initial 2000 miniseries sees Doctor Strange and Mr. Fantastic force the entire world to forget who Sentry is as a way of stripping the Void of its powers after the killing spree.

Unfortunately, that's incredibly similar to how Doctor Strange fixes things in "Spider-Man: No Way Home" — so it's probably out of the question.

If Marvel ever wants to bring Sentry to the big screen, he's probably best introduced as a secret weapon — or as a last resort to be used against the most unimaginable threats that the Avengers just can't handle. It'd be quite easy for the studio to set up Sentry's arrival through minor references and post-credits scenes. Hell, introduce him as a member of the Dark Avengers first if that's what it takes. The hero is a key member of the team led by Norman Osborn during the 2009 "Dark Avengers" series — and it grapples with Robert's dual personas as Sentry and the Void (via Marvel Database).

If Marvel really wants to riff on the Superman connection, casting Henry Cavill himself would be a perfect choice to parody the Kryptonian. If anything, using Sentry as a way of deconstructing Supes through the lens of the MCU would be fascinating. But that would also be tricky considering how interconnected everything is.

Basically, although Sentry is a vastly interesting character, he would probably wreck the MCU practically and thematically. But it would be very, very cool to see.