The Sentry stands as one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe, one with a complicated legacy and some dark secrets, which also positioned him as a uniquely fascinating character. At the time of his introduction, the Sentry already had deep ties to many of the publisher’s longest-running characters; in the years since, in one form or another, the Sentry has become deeply ingrained in Marvel lore.
The mystery surrounding the Sentry at the time of his introduction magnified his appeal, but as with any character who debuts as a rival for Marvel’s upper echelon of heroes – in terms of power – he proved at times to be divisive.
Subsequent stories have demonstrated that the Sentry unquestionably fits in among Marvel heroes. In part, this has been a result of the fact that there is great darkness to the character – meaning that as he continued to be depicted as increasingly overpowered, the looming potential for him to turn into a cosmic-level threat correspondingly grew greater.
Designed as an analogue to DC’s Superman, the concept behind the Sentry’s introduction was anything but derivative. Readers first met Robert Reynolds, an average human being who suddenly remembered he was, in fact, a superhero. Not just any superhero, he soon went on a whirlwind tour of the Marvel Universe, meeting with many of its greatest heroes, whose memories of the Sentry returned upon talking to him. In this way, Sentry was positioned not just as an equal of Marvel’s most classic, most powerful heroes – but as having been one of their number all along.
As the Sentry, Robert Reynolds has strength on par with Marvel’s ultimate powerhouse, the Hulk, and can travel at speeds far exceeding even DC’s Flash, as well as having demonstrated a range of potent abilities involving the manipulation of matter and energy at the molecular level. Sentry’s power-level was originally described as being on the magnitude of “one million exploding suns.” With the character’s abilities only growing more intense over the years, it is safe to say that number has likely gone up even further.
During his time as the Sentry, Robert Reynolds died and was resurrected several times, proving that his abilities extend beyond a mere mortal lifetime. Reynolds displayed a level of cosmic awareness, though at times he was also among Marvel’s most unreliable narrators, not always entirely certain of his own reality. Overall, when considered in totality, the Sentry has been repeatedly stated to be capable of destroying the entire Marvel Universe with the vast power at his disposal, placing him among the top tier of the company’s strongest characters.
When discussing the Sentry, it is essential to talk about his dark opposite: the Void. Robert Reynolds return to the fold as one of Marvel’s premiere superheroes was motivated by the knowledge that his archnemesis, the Void, was also returning. It was only a short time later that the character’s creators deftly revealed the truth – Robert Reynolds was also the Void, and the two halves of him represented two of the most powerful forces in the Marvel Universe, locked in an eternal struggle for supremacy.
The Void shares all the Sentry’s powers, and knows everything its heroic counterpart knows – meaning that, just like the Sentry, it immediately ranks among Marvel’s most dangerous villains. What’s more, the Void has displayed additional powers not utilized by his opposite, seemingly a result of its status as an embodiment of primordial darkness. The Void can conjure shadow soldiers to do its bidding, shapeshift to disguise its appearance, and has ability to generate metaphysical tendrils capable of imparting hellish visions on those who fall into his grasp.
Like the Sentry, the Void’s powers are theoretically limitless – as it applies to both versions of the character, their abilities are only defined by how they have been used in stories so far, and there is no discernible hard cap on their strength. The true nature of the Void is even more mysterious than that of the Sentry; though the two have long been inexorably linked, it is possible that the future for both the Sentry and the Void may finally, firmly establish them as distinct entities.
Both the Void and the Sentry seemingly met their match in the form of Knull, Marvel’s Ur-symbiote, during the King in Black storyline. Robert Reynolds, in Sentry form, was brutally killed by Knull, with this death seemingly serving as a permanent one for the powerful hero. Similarly, the Void bonded to the symbiote god, and appeared to be destroyed when Knull was defeated by Venom. Reynolds subsequently appeared briefly as a ghost, before moving on to the afterlife. The powers of the Sentry, however, remained in the Marvel Universe, and returned in a very different form.
Following the death of Robert Reynolds, the Sentry’s powers were dispersed across a group of six young individuals, endowing them with fragments of the hero’s full strength. One of these newly empowered individuals – dubbing himself “Ryan Sentry” – proceeded to murder most of the others, in order to absorb their power into his. He was only stopped by another of the six, Mallory Gibbs, along with the spirits of the others. Ryan was eventually depowered, and all of Sentry’s abilities came to reside in Gibbs, who opted to forge her own path as a hero, starting by taking the name “Solarus.”
As Marvel’s newest hero, Solarus has all of Sentry’s power – but as an idealistic young woman, newly graced with the ability to make a positive impact in the world, her potential may be unrivaled. Especially if she lacks Robert Reynolds’ greatest weakness, his connection to the Void. Though if that turns out to be the case, it means the Void may very will return in some new, unheralded form, with its own potential for destruction and devastation likewise unmatched. If and when that turns out to be the case, it is likely that only Solarus, Marvel’s latest incarnation of the Sentry, will be able to stop the threat.