Marvel Studios is back on track, finding its replacement actor for the MCU role originally meant to be played by Steven Yeun.
After becoming a global star in The Walking Dead, Yeun joined the cast of Marvel Studios’ 2025 antiheroic team-up movie Thunderbolts, teasing "a really interesting role" in the Multiverse Saga outing in March 2023.
Rumors pointed to Yeun taking on a major Marvel character, Sentry, setting up a cosmically dangerous force for the Thunderbolts as they team up for their first round of action together.
Steven Yeun's MCU Replacement Found
After Steven Yeun left his role as Sentry in Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts, Marvel Studios found his replacement in Lewis Pullman.
Deadline reported Pullman is now in early talks to take over the Sentry role and preparing to make his MCU debut in the 2025 summer team-up film.
Pullman is best known for his role as Bob in 2022's billion-dollar hit Top Gun: Maverick, where he starred alongside Tom Cruise and Miles Teller.
The State of Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts
Lewis Pullman returned to the spotlight recently alongside Brie Larson in Season 1 of Apple TV+'s Lessons in Chemistry (the crew of which hopes to move into Season 2). However, Thunderbolts could mark his biggest project to date.
His reported character, Sentry, is rumored to be reimagined as a government-developed super soldier in this new movie. In Marvel Comics, he's known as one of the most powerful and terrifying beings.
Insiders believe Sentry will be Thunderbolts' main villain, struggling to keep control of his intense alter-ego known as The Void before the titular team is brought together to stop him or contain him.
As for Thunderbolts' production schedule after finding Steven Yeun's replacement, though the script for the team-up film was finished before 2023's actors' and writers' strikes, filming couldn't begin until those issues were resolved.
The film was gearing up to begin production as the first strike started. Then, it was forced into indefinite delays before the WGA and SAG-AFTRA negotiated fair compensation for all parties involved.
Now, Thunderbolts is one of half a dozen MCU movies to face delays to its release date. Still, there is bound to be plenty of anticipation to see what Pullman and the rest of the cast have in store for this unique crossover outing.
Thunderbolts is set to debut in theaters on July 25, 2025.
