The Sentry was a fun character who was inserted in the history of Marvel Comics. The short-run that the character initially had made him popular enough that he became a regular in the universe. The character has gone toe to toe with characters like The Hulk and Galactus, which makes him quite the challenge for the Thunderbolts in their upcoming film.
Given that it has been reported that the character will be significantly diminished, the comics have introduced a concept that allows Sentry to be a handleable threat for the Thunderbolts, while also making sure he can go toe to toe with the likes of Captain Marvel, Thor, and Galactus.
The MCU could introduce Sentry as a version of Solarus from the comics
During the events of King in Black, Robert Reynolds is slain by Knull, which leads to his powers dissipating, which eventually ends up in six different individuals. While some only receive a few powers of the Sentry, others have full abilities of the character, but at a reduced capacity.
However, one of these people, Ryan Topper, hunts down the other recipients of the power and steals their abilities for himself. He then confronts Mallory Gibbs, who, with the help of Jessica Jones, is able to steal the powers from him, becoming the true heir to Sentry’s powers, going by the name Solaris.
While Sentry’s origin story is very different from the comics, the new origin used for characters like Solarus can be used to make Sentry any level of villain that the creators please, with him constantly losing and gaining pieces of his powers throughout his appearance. He could be a street-level villain for characters like Daredevil and Spider-Man, or he could become powerful enough to pose a threat to the likes of Galactus or Thanos (should he return).
Hunting for other pieces of Sentry’s powers could flesh out the Thunderbolts franchise
While the Thunderbolts might have a different trajectory in the MCU, hunting for rogue supersoldiers who can combine their powers to form a god under the command of the US military seems like the right plot for the team.
Given that the United Kingdom now has a government operative like G’iah, who has the combined powers of a slew of Avengers, The United States of America will find itself hard-pressed to find its super-god that they can deploy into battle.
The Thunderbolts could be the Black Ops superhero team that hunts for and assembles the Sentry, who could then go on to assist the heroes in Secret Wars. His death at the hands of Doctor Doom or some other overpowered villain could trigger a fresh hunt for the new Sentry, which could involve the Thunderbolts too.
