Marvel’s upcoming project, Thunderbolts has housed another actor in place of Steven Yeun. Thunderbolts revolves around a group of antiheroes, recruited to assist the government in taking over important missions. Among the other heroes, The Walking Dead star Steven Yeun was scheduled to play one of Marvel Comics’ most powerful, the Sentry.
However, recent news has surfaced that Yeun has been dropped out of Thunderbolts. Speculations had emerged that Superman star Henry Cavill might be taking over the role after James Gunn dismissed all hopes of Cavill reprising his legendary DCEU character. An insider scoop revealed that Marvel passed on the British actor and is eyeing another actor from The Walking Dead cast.
Marvel switched from one The Walking Dead star to another
The Hollywood Reporter reported that Steven Yeun won’t be playing The Sentry in Marvel’s Thunderbolts, in the first week of January. While clarification on the 40-year-old star’s exit is still due, insider Daniel Richtman has steered the attention towards Euphoria and The Walking Dead’s Austin Abrams, claiming he has been offered the role of Sentry in Thunderbolts.
Abrams played Ron Anderson in The Walking Dead while Yeun played Glenn Rhee. However, Rhee was brutally killed by Jeffrey Dean Morgan in the sixth season. Hence, Yeun was free to be cast as Sentry/Robert Reynolds. Meanwhile, fans had speculated Henry Cavill’s appearance as The Sentry with an impressive fan art piece on social media by Apex Form.
Even though Yeun was scheduled to be cast as The Sentry in February 2023, Marvel failed to provide any official confirmation on the same. The final offer seemed to have landed in the 27-year-old actor’s hands. Richtman confirmed in collaboration with @rDCUleaks on X.
Other cast members in Thunderbolts include Florence Pugh, Harrison Ford, Wyatt Russell, Ayo Edebiri, David Harbour, Sebastian Stan and Hannah John-Kamen.
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Thunderbolts was delayed by a year
Helmed by director Jake Schreier, Thunderbolts was initially eyeing a release date in July 2024. However, due to the SAG-AFTRA strikes, the Marvel Phase #6 film was pushed to a one-year delay, with its current release date on July 25, 2025. According to Games Radar, Yeun exited from the cast owing to issues in scheduling
In the comics, the Thunderbolts groups a team of agile anti-heroes or supervillains like Black Widow, The Sentry, Thaddeus Ross, Ghost, Red Guardian, Winter Soldier, and more. Additional details about the plotline are yet to be unveiled by Marvel.