Some fan art has imagined what Henry Cavill might look like as The Sentry. A creation of Paul Jenkins, Rick Veitch and Jae Lee, the Sentry first appeared in a limited series and several linked one-shots published under Marvel Knights, an imprint that focuses on standalone stories separate from the primary comic continuity.
The story begins when middle-aged man Bob Reynolds suddenly remembers that he is the Sentry, a superhero who possesses a wide assortment of powers, including but not limited to strength, flight, regeneration, teleportation, astral projection, telepathy, shapeshifting, invisibility and energy manipulation, that render him functionally indestructible and virtually omnipotent. However, some event in the past erased all trace of the hero from not only the memories of the whole world, but also himself. He realizes that his nemesis the Void, a force of destructive darkness, is returning, and as people’s recollections of the Sentry begin to return, he visits several prominent heroes in an attempt to piece together what happened and figure out why nobody can remember him.
Created by Instagram user ApexForm, the image shows Cavill suited up as the Sentry, the distinctive and clashing gold and cyan of the costume immediately eye catching, while flanking bolts of lightning signify both an aspect of his power and also a recurring motif from the comic.
Although Cavill appearing as the Sentry would mean he had appeared in both a Marvel and DC movie, he is far from the first actor to do so. Ryan Reynolds portrayed the titular hero of both Green Lantern and Deadpool. As well as being the a more recent iteration of Batman, Ben Affleck also starred as Daredevil in the underrated 2003 movie. Zachary Levi replaced Josh Dallas as Fandral in Thor: The Dark World and (for about five seconds) Ragnarok, and was the hero incarnation of Billy Batson in Shazam. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje was the Dark Elf warrior Algrim/Kurse in Thor: The Dark World and Killer Croc in Suicide Squad. Michael Keaton played Batman in Tim Burton’s 1989 movie, and the Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
With the future of Henry Cavill as Superman in increasing doubt, he could certainly do worse than take on the role of former hero turned unreliable narrator, and although there are currently no plans to bring the Sentry into the MCU, he has the potential to take things in a different direction, at least temporarily. The character’s story would incorporate the retconning of various aspects of the MCU to include his presence, which could be a lot of fun and would allow for the revisiting of various events in the same way the time heist of Avengers: Endgame did. Also, as well as its primary plot of the search for self-identity, The Sentry also touches on issues such as addiction and mental illness, and after the somewhat questionable portrayal of the latter in Joker, it would be encouraging to see the subject be given the unsensationalized exploration it deserves.
Next: The Batman Can Only Exist In The DCEU If It Retcons Justice League
Source: ApexForm
