Thunderbolts Actor Lewis Pullman Almost Starred In Two Marvel Movies Before Playing Sentry

After starting the year with the disastrous "Captain America: Brave New World," Marvel Studios has earned itself a surprise win with "Thunderbolts*." Placing the future of the "Avengers" namesake on a collective of rogue antiheroes from across the film and television spectrums of the Marvel Cinematic Universe turned out to be a great bet after all. That's largely because director Jake Schreier was given room to tell a singular story that provides a compelling reason why all of these traumatized characters would learn to confide in one another, especially in the face of an overwhelming threat like the Sentry.

Part of what makes the film's central antagonist so impactful is how Lewis Pullman's performance evolves over the course of the film. When he enters the movie, he's simply a guy named Bob — or Robert Reynolds, if you want to be specific. No one really knows why he's there, yet Yelena (Florence Pugh) recognizes a mutual vulnerability that endears her to him. /Film's BJ Colangelo praised Pullman as giving one of the film's standout performances in her review, and she's very much correct.

Pullman is tasked with playing three shades of the same character, whether he's embodying the kind-heartedness of Bob, the super-powered actualization of the Sentry, or the shadowy destructive force of his villainous alter-ego, the Void. "Thunderbolts*" thankfully streamlines the Marvel character into someone whose struggles with depression and manipulation audiences can easily identify with, especially in comparison to his comic book counterpart. It's a rewarding role that fits Pullman's sensibilities as an actor like a glove. With that in mind, however, there's a universe in which the "Bad Times From the El Royale" actor could have joined the MCU much sooner.

Sarah Finn has been the casting director for the MCU since its inception, so you pretty much have her to thank for your roster of Marvel superheroes. In a red carpet interview with IGN, Finn reveals that Pullman had auditioned for the role of Ned Leeds, Spider-Man's best friend, nearly a decade ago. Marvel fans have come to know Jacob Batalon as the web slinger's tech-savvy right hand man, with the character making his first screen appearance in "Spider-Man: Homecoming."

It's probably for the best that Pullman didn't nab the role of Ned, not only because he wouldn't have become the Sentry, but because he looks way too similar to Tom Holland, which would have made it strange to see the pair walking around like a set of twins. Batalon brought a whole other nerdy high school boy energy that compliments Holland's performance. Had Pullman nabbed the part, at least he likely would have remained a central character in the "Spider-Man" movies, as opposed to the other Marvel audition that would have left his potential character in limbo.

Pullman doesn't remember going in for Ned, but in an interview with Kristian Harloff, he partially recalls testing for an unspecified role in "Kraven the Hunter." He doesn't provide many details about who it might have been, but I can only assume it was likely Kraven's half-brother Dmitri Kravinoff, who ended up being played by Fred Hechinger. It's for the best considering the death knell has been rung for Sony's non-Spider-Man cinematic universe, which meant that Dmitri's transformation into the Chameleon would have left him in the ether. Not even a great actor like Pullman could have salvaged "Kraven the Hunter" from its ultimate fate as a monumentally boring and inert comic book movie.

At the moment, Pullman has a promising future over at Marvel — that is, if they're able to utilize what people like about his interpretation of the Sentry and, most importantly, Bob.

"Thunderbolts*" is now playing in theaters nationwide.