chaos
20th century
While I was skeptical about the concept of Thunderbolts, the MCU version of DC's Suicide Squad (which, yes, has weird origins), there was one part of the casting that particularly excited me, namely the fact that the former “Walking Dead” star and Oscar nominee Steven Yeun would play Sentry, the film’s villain.
I've hardly ever seen Yeun be bad at anything, and most of his hand-picked projects since leaving The Walking Dead have been great, including Minari, which earned him his 2020 Oscar nomination for Best Actor, the first Asian American film actor to do so.
However, there were initially rumors and then it was confirmed that Yeun has left Thunderbolts and will no longer be playing Sentry. The immediate question was why and what raised concerns about the quality of the film or the script, or whether Yeun saw something he didn't like and bounced. That…didn't happen, and the answer is a bit more banal. But still a bummer.
Yeun spoke to Variety about his departure, and it really came down to scheduling conflicts caused in part by the SAG-AFTRA strike delays that held things back.
“I think that time passing and things changing kind of took me out of the situation,” Yeun said. “But [director] Jake [Schreier]I know will do an incredible job… It took many drafts via email to make sure I sincerely expressed how sorry I was that I had to resign.”
attends the 93rd Annual Academy Awards at Union Station on April 25, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Chris Pizzello-Pool/Getty Images)Getty Images
It's never easy to bring a big star onto a project and then let them go, and I'm sure Marvel was thrilled to have Yeun featured as the main villain in this film. Yeun goes on to say that he still wants to play someone in the MCU:
“I want to do a Marvel movie… I think it's too early to say. I've probably pissed off too many people who left, so I'll just say, “Thanks for having me… I have some ideas, but I heard that you never understand them when you put them out there, so I have” I’ll keep it close to my chest.”
Who will replace Yeun is unclear and currently only consists of many suggestions from fans. A long-standing, somewhat funny case is that the MCU cast former Superman Henry Cavill for the role, which will almost certainly never happen. One serious suggestion that would keep Sentry as a new Asian character in this version is Andrew Koji, star of the recently canceled Warrior series. Although he would probably be a lot less of a “name” than Yeun.
And we don't know who Yeun might play in the MCU, but anything he comes up with I would definitely watch.
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I've been writing about video games, television, and movies for Forbes for over 10 years, and you may have seen my reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic. I cover all types of console and PC gaming, but when it comes to looting or shooting, I'm definitely there. When I watch something, it's usually science fiction, horror, or superheroes. I'm also a regular on IGN's Fireteam Chat podcast and have published five science fiction novels.
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