Cast your mind back to 2023. At the time, MCU fans didn’t know who exactly would go on to play The Sentry in Thunderbolts*, but the rumor mill pointed to Invincible star Steven Yeun. So when Invincible creator Robert Kirkman let slip that Yeun would be playing Robert Reynolds, aka The Sentry, in Thunderbolts*, Marvel fans went wild.
Here’s that original quote from Kirkman two years ago:
“Yeah, he [Yeun] called me, he went in for a costume fitting. I hope I’m not… I don’t think this is a spoiler or anything that will get anybody in trouble. I don’t know, maybe. We’ll see. I don’t care. I don’t work for Marvel. What are they going to do to me?
“Yeah, he called me and he said, ‘I just came back from a costume fitting for The Sentry. I guess I only do superheroes that are yellow and blue.’ He said he was at the costume fitting and was like, ‘Aww, crap. I forgot Invincible was yellow and blue.'”
Fast forward two years, with Thunderbolts* out the door, and we know The Sentry eventually went to Lewis Pullman after Yeun himself dropped out. But at the time, Yeun as The Sentry felt like a sure thing. After all, Kirkman had confirmed it.
This, it seemed, caused Kirkman all sorts of trouble. In an interview with IGN at San Diego Comic-Con 2025 to promote fighting game Invincible VS, we asked Kirkman who Yeun will play in the upcoming animated The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender movie, given how much he seemingly knows about the actor’s schedule.
“I don’t want to lose any more sleep spoiling Steven Yeun news!” Kirkman said. “I cannot tell you how much that Thunderbolts thing affected me.” Then, Kirkman joked: “Why would you guys bring that up? I’m so angry.”
Kirkman wenton to reveal that he actually does know who Yeun plays in The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender, but this time stopped short of spilling the beans – perhaps with his Thunderbolts / Marvel run-in in mind.
“The best part is he told me who he’s playing in The Last Airbender and I was like, ‘I wish I didn’t know. I wish I didn’t know.’”
Kirkman continued the joke, saying Steven Yeun is set to play Abraham Lincoln in the unconfirmed hit TV show based on Skinbreaker, his new comic book series he’s working on with artist David Finch.
At Comic-Con this year, Kirkman announced Invincible Season 4’s Dinosaurus voice actor, revealed how many seasons the show will need to complete the story of the comics, and joked Season 5 will be out in 2032.
Photo by Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
