Superhero Origins: The Sentry

Superhero Origins: Sentry

He’s the hero with the power of a million exploding suns! Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we will explore the comic book origin Robert Reynolds, otherwise known as the Sentry.

As with most comic book characters, there are often re-imaginations and different versions to a character’s past. We have chosen to primarily follow the storyline, which unfolded in 2000’s five-part The Sentry series and was expanded upon in Issues #1 and 7-10 of 2005’s The New Avengers.

A relatively recent comic book character, this Marvel creation benefited from an unusual hoax-style marketing ploy. Released within a limited series, he was given the appearance of a long forgotten Stan Lee character from the Silver Age, even pre-dating the Fantastic Four, finally getting a long overdo reboot.

Kicking off this faux-return, readers were introduced to Bob Reynolds, a seemingly normal married man awaking from a nightmare during a thunderstorm.

While going downstairs under the guise of having to let the dog out, he plucked a book from the shelf and mused about his enemy, the Void returning to Earth.

Believing that the Void would be stronger then ever, and he would be the only hope for humanity, he revealed a bottle of serum hidden away within the book.

As he looked at the bottle, viewers were shown glimpses of the hero’s previous comic exploits. This included showing Bob as a young man who had stumbled upon a professor’s secret formula.

This showed him drinking it, and beginning to glow with energy. It then jumped ahead to show Bob using his newfound strength and power for good, and getting the girl.

We were even shown a flashback of the young hero sowing his uniform, a golden suit, while the aged man debated drinking the serum and becoming the Sentry once again. He did this all while looking at the closet where he stored his costume.

Drinking the serum, Bob felt his power returning, and more long forgotten memories. These including his power to fly, his super sense, and that he had once worked alongside his super powered pooch, previously known as Watchdog.

Bob then remembered his arch nemesis, the Void and got a glimpse of using his powers to fight off the foe, who vowed vengeance.

Journeying outside into the storm, Bob tried to remember why his memories were so unclear, and why he stopped being a superhero.

He then remembered a professor explaining that the serum created a hyperstate of consciousness, that his powers coming directly from the sun, and that his abilities are limitless.

The professor also revealed that there is no way to know the effects of prolonged exposure to his regular intake of the serum

Fearful of the ghostlike void’s return, Bob began working to repair a relic he had once found on an alien planet that the Void had once destroyed.

With his mind not at the genius levels that it once was, Rob drank the serum. It was at that moment that the Void presented itself to Rob.

With his wife coming down to check on the commotion, she found him broken down on the floor next to the dog, that he had kicked during his hallucination, and she became outraged that he had begun to drink again.

With this, Bob began to believe that only he could remember his former life. This led to Bob visiting each of his former superhero friends in succession, who also had forgotten him. This also spurred an investigation to discover why they and the entire world had forgotten about him, while returning more and more of his own former memories, including his marriage.

As it turned out, the Sentry had faked his death before using his powers to make the entire world forget he had ever existed. This turned out to be necessary as he learned that the Void was part of his psyche, and that forgetting was the only way to subdue the menace.

Finally remembering his self-sacrifice, and making the world remember him again,
Including his wife, he realized that he must once again make the same sacrifice to save everyone.

Following this supposedly one-off and tragic tale, the character eventually returned when he turned up in a special prison, falsely believing he had murdered his wife. Thanks to a supervillain breakout, he came to the attention of the New Avengers, who helped him destroy the Void, which turned out to be a cerebral virus. In the years that followed, he rejoined their team, becoming a hero once more.

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