The Rise and Fall of Marvel's Superman Ripoff 

Y'all. Marvel has many Superman ripoffs from Hyperion to Gladiator to Virtue. Sentry was directly called "Marvel's Superman" in the original interviews for the Wizard Magazine hoax.

Sentry is a classic example of ultra powerful (and interesting) characters that are creatively hamstrung by Marvel's reliance on returning to the status quo.

I love how Marvel did the Sentry as a forgotten hero, not only in universe but in the real world as well, it’s such a cool idea

My first exposure to Sentry was World War Hulk were his mental illness was basically just the plot device to explain why he didn't fight Hulk until after Hulk had already beaten the Illuminati and his inclusion basically seemed to be just "only character on Earth strong enough to fight a Hulk that is this pissed off".

Hope you all enjoy the video! The Sentry is one of my favourite Marvel characters and the history behind his creation is so fascinating. Thanks for having me on, Drake!

Sentry is easily my favorite Superman "ripoff". The writers really wanted to tell smtg interesting with the character & his origin is absolutely amazing. So glad to see a video on him!

So basically, Sentry's like that human Poochie guy who appeared in one episode of the Simpsons: comes completely out of nowhere, is treated like he's been there from the start, is loved by everyone, and is forgotten about the next episode.

I read the Wizard article at the time, and honestly, fell for it hook, line, and sinker. I was too young to actually understand what the ramifications would be of having a Pre-FF Marvel character, but still thought the entire thing was cool as hell. When Wizard later announced it was a hoax and did their entire article revealing how they got away with the ruse, I went from thinking the Sentry idea was cool to it being absolutely brilliant. I only wish the character had the interest and staying power worth of so much time and energy put into him behind the scenes.

I feel like they are overusing the fact that Sentry is truly immortal. When Superman dies there are consequences, when Sentry dies he just spawns back eventually and the major threat gets handled by other heroes. And that's why he's a perfect punching bag/benchmark for villains (Knull in king in black storyline for example).

My main fear with the Sentry is how the writer tackles his Schizophrenia, and it can easily end up badly. With how many interesting themes The Sentry has going for it I really wish Ewing writes the character at some point, I think he would do an amazing job as much as he did in Immortal Hulk or his amazing start in Immortal Thor

I wonder if a way to help slot the Sentry into a more permanent position would be to have the character himself debate how dangerous it is for ANY one person to have his amount of power, much less Bob specifically. And basically have the character re-write himself to be more limited in his abilities. LIke, we've already gotten the Marvel Superman story. We don't really need it still. Get him down to a Wonderman level, and he'd fit better.

Gladiator is another interesting take on Superman from Marvel. Having superpowers tied to confidence is really thought provoking and has many parallels to real life.

Sentry is such a cool character, he deserves way more attention imo.

Lemire’s Sentry series was great and the ending had so much storytelling potential. Then King in Black happens and Sentry just…dies. The concept of Sentry has so much good ideas to tap into, but since Marvel is Marvel it never gets developed or explored properly

Theory - If the Fantastic Four have been in the MCU the entire time and they're just trapped in the Negative Zone, then what if Mister Fantastic already made the formula that turns Robert Reynolds into the Sentry before the Fantastic Four got trapped? Synopsis - Mister Fantastic creates the Sentry formula just as an experiment attempting to improve on the Super Solider Serum but puts the project on hold because of the anti-matter Negative Zone discovery. Robert, already an addict, hears of something that can sustain his urges as Steve Rodgers couldn't get intoxicated upon receiving the serum. Robert breaks into the Baxter Building and steals the serum and momentarily ceases his urges, but his previous life as an addict comes back to haunt him as the Void. This would have the same "embedded" bond between Robert and Reed in the MCU.

Funny thing about Sentry in Ultimate Fantastic 4, the issue where Marvel Zombies made their 1st debut before having their own series, the origin of the Hunger Virus was started by Sentry but his design is slighty different looking, shorter hair which also has a hair bang thing like Superman and that was because one of the artist almost used a zombie Superman looking character without the S logo but to avoid a lawsuit from DC the Zombie Superman look alike was quickly changed to Sentry.

People keep comparing Sentry to Superboy Prime, while more people are comparing Hyperion to Superman.

I like how they chose to demonstrate The Sentry's strength and dual persona of The Void in Marvel Snap by having it where when you play him it also spawns a The Void card in the right location. The Sentry has 10 power in the game (which is a lot for a 4 cost card) and The Void has -10 power so it is a good match. Most people avoid playing The Sentry because of The Void, but with the right cards you can make it work, such as using Viper to give move The Void to your opponent's side of the board or using a destruction card like Carnage or Deathlok to get rid of it.

One of the biggest problems with people's perspective on Superman and Superman adjacent characters is reducing them to "the strongest guy" Whether it's from the writers who are only interested in showing off how strong they are, or readers who consider these characters boring because all they've seen is that strength and not the incredibly complex characters that lie beneath.

I hit my breaking point with the Sentry when they did a funeral issue for him and it was revealed that he had taken Rogue's virginity... sort of. It wasn't that specific moment (though it was comically out of left field), I just realized I couldn't stand the constant "Oh Sentry! I just remember you were the most important character in my history!" Reveals. He's a recton machine that never leads anywhere.

When it comes to his death in King in Black it is pretty cool that he was ripped in half by the god of the symbiotes given how he had previously ripped Carnage in half. Also, I absolutely love your Miracleman video but it would be cool if you delved into the story a bit more especially now as Neil Gaiman's Silver Age story has been going on.

Well, I'm donating almost all of my comics this month but you just convinced me to keep that initial mini series. I'd forgotten how much I loved it back then. The Sentry exemplifies the view that not every character in comics needs multiple stories. Sometimes the best thing is to tell the important one and draw a line under it. By design, he should've been left alone but IP does need milking, after all. Ironically, while his story is very cinematic and would make a genuinely thrilling MCU entry, announcing it would mean the twist would be spoiled all over the internet immediately.

The original Sentry miniseries was amazing and nothing done with the character since then can hold a candle to it in my opinion. The story should have continued with Scout taking over as the Sentry and Rob Reynolds never regaining his powers or memories

I remember that there was a rumor that Sentry would show up in Avengers: Endgame and I'm still bummed they didn't do that. The movie's great as it is, but time travel to past events is the perfect way to reveal a character that was erased from everyone's memories for their own good. It could have set up a new big bad, without putting too much focus on this new character.

You bringing up the Sentry’s ties to drug addiction and mental health made me realize something really funny. Last year Hasbro put out a new Sentry action figure in their Marvel Legends line. It was exclusive to Walgreens, a chain of American drugstores.

shout out to everyone who first encountered The Sentry in Marvel Snap. honestly love how that game shines a spotlight on lesser-known characters

Sentry is a cool character but there are many stories that can be written after his struggle with the void.

Original quasar would body the sentry. Maybe only matched to original adam warlock before he got nerfed

Everything about this is absolutely fascinating and super cool, but something you said at the very end really struck me: The Sentry is reliving the same story beats over and over again. Just like fighting addiction can feel like reliving the same fight over and over again. Given The Sentry's unique relationship to the Marvel Universe, I think it would be really interesting to see his meta narrative of recycling be woven into his actual story, kinda like how Thor broke the cycle of ragnarök by killing Those Who Sit Above In Shadow.

Loved this great vid, remember being fully tricked by the Wizard article as a kid. As you pointed out The Sentry is a nuanced character i know he’s rumored to be in The Thunderbolts movie hopefully they do more with than just evil Superman. Would love to see him get his own Disney+ series. Hope all is well!

This video was very informative and well done. I found out about the Sentry from New Avengers, and I certainly like the character. There’s also this montage video on RU-vid done by Guigo, which features the song- “Invincible”. It’s so much fun to watch. Thank you for doing this video. I need to check out more of the solo series about this character! It’s also very cool to learn about Stan Lee’s involvement in the ruse. Stan was always such a nice guy! It sounds like you’re also going through some mental health problems and that seems to be troubling more than a couple of my favorite RU-vidrs right now. I wish you well dude, and I hope you feel better real soon! Keep doing what you do!

When I read King In Black, When Knull killed Sentry by rip & tear him apart. I could imagine Ares being there and say to Sentry this, "YES! Thats how it's feels!"

Hey drake, glad to actually see something like this be talked about! I just wanted to let you know btw, technically Sentry is more of an expy, or specifically a Superman Substitute. Great stuff to mention the poor use of the guy, probably return after that god awful cates event

Sentry has a bad case of "Cool character that nobody knows how to write" syndrome

Interesting video. I can’t believe that Marvel would deceive their own readers to build the story!

I still love the fabricated history of the Sentry & roping Stan Lee in to play it up & everything way more than the character himself, but I have slowly grown to like & appreciate him quite a bit over the years. Hope the new series gets him back to what makes him interesting and has a lot of success.

It's crazy how overlooked all of his solo books were, considering how good most of them were (imo).

Sentry is actually one of my favorite Marvel characters. He's such an interesting character to me, I love his internal struggles with Void and the fact that he's actually so terrified of his own power he barely leaves his home. Also, seeing him let loose from time to time is kickass, that fight with Hulk was peak Marvel. I also found his strange yet completely unintentional similarities with Scion from Worm hilarious.

Retroactive continuity is one of my favourite things to see superhero comics utilize given their rich and storied history. My favourite use of this is probably Jessica Jones in Alias but the way the Sentry was created is also so fascinating

Without a shadow of doubt, Sentry is one of my all-time favorite characters in comics and now learning how Marvel practically gaslighted their entire audience into thinking he always existed since the start to play into his first story's setup is just another example as to why I love this character. Which is why it pisses me off when he's regarded as nothing more than a Superman copycat/ stand in when he's frankly far more unique of a character than (mostly Superman fans) will ever give him credit for, when comparing the two. I'm glad to hear there'll be a new series coming out for him. If done right, hopefully Sentry will be given a spotlight Marvel can't ignore to mess it up.

It sucks what happened to the sentry he doesn't get the love or attention he deserves these days and it's rare he gets his own solo comics

My friend and I were talking the other day about how Planet Hulk was wasted in Thor Ragnarok, and I came up with an idea of how they can still do a similar story line with an MCU Illuminati and have Sentry sent to another planet because of the threat of the Void.

sentry honestly is underrated. he has a very interesting storyline and is a good lesson about many things like addiction and power and consequences. plus his prodigy putting more lessons.

Always been interested in the Sentry, thanks for making a video like this!

I think a Sentry and Moon Knight team up would be pretty good. Khonsu is trying to get Marc under his control again but he remembers once Khonsu admitting that the Void scares him so Moon Knight finds ways to revive Sentry. Plus it feels like something Marvel would do if so they can say to DC, we can make a World's Finest run better than you

Ok but how has no one done a Moon Knight x Sentry teamup! they're both parallels to DC's worlds finest, have been the mental health angle, were a part of Marvel Knights, and have a tendency to be quite ultraviolent

I'm not a comic book person. But I like the Sentry idea. That graphic novel is the one and only comic book I've ever bought. It was neat, a whole bunch of little comics in one, with all the different art styles. It was fun.

Hey Drake, take it for me, a guy who actually read the Century comics back in the day as it was dropping. The whole thing started off as an April Fools joke and boy,😏did they get us good!

I always found the Sentry behind the scenes creation interesting.

Sentry always seemed like he was an Alan Moore character in a Stan Lee world.

It'd be awesome if you could go over the 6 (?) different version of Carnage, as I've been having trouble keeping track of which symbiote is which, especially considering Carnage Forever.

Sentry has always been that international character that I don't really know anything about and his real world publication history and the almost "prank" nature of it is truly fascinating! Thank you, Drake!

Read the original series by Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee and while it was amazing, my only complaint is it didn't feel like there's was enough focus on the more human side of The Sentry. Like I was first drawn into the character because like you said, he bared resemblance to Miracleman in alot of ways, but the stronger insight into Mick Moran's humanity isn't quite here. Still a great series worth reading though.

I will say tricking your fanbase to thay degree is a pretty genius level, blair witch esque marketing tactic that would be harder to replicate now

Honestly, by the looks of it The Sentry should have never been a permanent addition.

The Sentry needs to return in a new comic arc that revolves around him. I can think of a few Comic book writers who can bring back Marvel's Superman. Like Al Ewing, Donny Cates, Greg Pak, Alex Ross, Dan Slott, or even Nick Spencer.

It’s weird seeing Paul Jenkins so young here because he and his son actually come to the comic shop I work at here in Georgia pretty frequently. His son plays D&D with us weekly. They’re good people. 4:28

philosophically the entire point of the sentry is that he is unstoppable. as the boy said about brolly. "HIS POWER IS MAXIMUM!" he should be considered like a limitless generator rather than an infinite power battery every action a separation of molecules forming a metaphorical static charge that grows and grows and grows to a stratospheric level and beyond until it is bigger than the entire earth itself, forming a temporary power like the wrath of god that splits the clouds, rends the heavens, blinds the world, slags metal, pavement and stone alike and scorches the air and earth. but unlike lightning the sentry's power is not required to limit itself in even the ways that lightning is. robert reynolds has power beyond anything and everything in any possible universe... but what hell will it create to use it. cause eventually those charges will balance out. that power is the void .it right in the name. the reason he cannot be killed is that he is not a thing, he is a sentient force of nature. the biggest monkeys paw ever . the reason you dont use him to solve x event is because it is a bad idea. but this is perfect for marvel and comics as long as they dont try to fudge the numbers too much.

I was introduced to comics in the mid-aughts via The Sentry. I didn't know then, but he resonated with me due to my mental illnesses and addiction. He holds a very special place in my heart and I am usually saddened when Marvel uses him time and time again for the same storyline. Hopefully someday we see something good for Robert Reynolds.

Sentry is one of my favorite Marvel heroes, he is a truly intriguing and terrifying character. As much as I want an MCU movie for just him, I feel like they’d just mess it up and make him a boring cookie cutter villain character in someone else’s movie.

I'll still take Blue Marvel in a straight up duel... great video

I felt like Sentry was a really distinct and interesting yeah.

After years of trying to get Sentry to connect with readers, I’d have killed the character off. Reynolds would have died the epitome of the hero’s death, to save Earth from a Galactus level threat. Then, after the character had been declared dead and mourned, would’ve shown he wasn’t. That he’d actually been ripped across billions of light years to a point in space so remote, the beings there had never heard of the Skrulls/Kree/Shi’Ar or even Galactus. In this galaxy that was largely lawless and chaotic, Sentry would end up becoming the law. So far removed from the MU, Reynolds could actually go all out. No more holding back or playing nice. He could do whatever he felt he needed to to get the job done. That’d be the hook, what can a character as powerful as him do when they aren’t holding back?

This is gonna be a great video! (Watching before the premiere starts for future context)

At 17:47 - Drake mentions "Marvels Superman stand-ins," and I recognize Hyperion on the left, but not the character on the right. Can someone tell me who the character is?

They just didn't know what to do with him, like hulks son and some other great character's.

your opening speal about the sentry gave me wicked madoka magica vibes and made me think of a superhero with some evil side that would always do just as much hard to the world as they would do good. nothing they do will ever result in a net good for the world but because they're a good person they cant possibly stand back and do nothing when people are in trouble

Let's help get Owen to 100,000 subscribers and let him know that I sent you! youtube.com/@OwenLikesComics

I hate marvel for what they did to sentry. They turned an all-powerful but interesting complex character into a deus ex machina mcguffin plot device with no purpose. It only shows the inability to write true good stories, and instead trying to fic their mistake they want to replace robert reynolds with some random person who no one cares about in the upcoming comic series. Its the reason why i started to despise marvel and hope for the companys downfall Also wish you didn't call him a ripoff

Sentry isn't the marvel equivalent of superman, hyperion is.

Sentry is more like a science based Shazam/Black Adam instead of Superman IMO. Hyperion is Marvel's Superman.

For me Sentry made no sense after Hyperion tossed him, that's when i knew Blue Marvel and Hyperion make more sense than Sentry, more specifically Hyperion!

I know it’s not connected video but can you make a series that shows how the movies and other media’s effect the characters like for ex iron-man before the mcu and after the mcu and how it changed the character of iron man plz

Sentry has so much potential and they could tell some really great stories with him. Cant wait for the MCU to kill him off as a generic villain in his first appearence.

Hang on, hang on! No mention of The long forgotten, Golden Age, Blond, A list hero Triumph from DC who 'dropped back' in to continuity mid 90's? It's interesting that Marvel duped the audience into thinking the character was a real forgotten hero, I like that as its ballsy and the only way this could be done is in a time when the interenet was young but hey, credit where its due, love him or hate him, Triumph and DC did it first.

In the King In Black storyline the Sentry has the coolest yet simplest line ever "Hi I'm Bob"

The original Sentry is one of my favourite comics of all time.

I remember playing the sentry in Ultimate Alliance 2, kinda liked the guy honestly. It was annoying to me that DD wasn't in the DS version despite showing up in the story a few times.

Jenkins is so good. The MK Sentry story may still be the best one, and his Inhumans run is my favorite with them- had no idea he only read 5 issues about them beforehand!!! ~_~

I've been so out of comics for decades, that the only story I've read with the Sentinel in it was one of the Marvel Zombies original series.

Would love to see a history of Hyperion after this video

Love when you and content. I know life has its challenges but you are handling growth and expansion with grace and it shows. Keep doing what you doing brother.

It would be interesting to see the MCU try to play with this idea.

Marvel has never really cleared up the character's mysteries. He is just a Deus Ex Gimmick.

The Sentry's creation is essentially an old school creepy pasta 😅

The Sentry clearly has DID, it'd be cool if Marvel knew, and actually explored that. We need more and better representation.

Maybe Marvel can do an animated mini-series of both the Sentry & Marvelman ( Miracleman) exploring these themes.

They did the "forgotten hero" better with Blue Marvel

I think Bendis wasn't a fan of the character (or even understood the first story) - but rather loved the imagery and the idea of having his "own" Superman to play with. To bad he never did anything interesting with him in his all to long "What if ....? Avengers, but Seinfeld".

Gonna be interesting to see how MCU deals with this character in Thunderbolts 🤔

cant believe they did the forgotten hero again with Spider Boy

This was a good video. Could you do superboy prime, if u havent done already ?

I knew of the sentry but not in this much detail or how interesting he truly was, this truly is yet another award winning video!

Drake over here reminding me why I hated the Knull stuff so much with a single comic spread.

I never cared for the Sentry. His original series was okay but nothing ground breaking. It would have been better imo had they just left him at his first series. As soon as I heard Bendis was bringing him to the Avengers my eyes nearly rolled out of my head. Bendis is a good individual character writer where the character's continuity is flexible enough for him to use. But team books, Bendis is okay at best and is god awful at worst. He's not good at writing multiple character story acrs, too much is going on and he forgets certain things in the story. Add the fact team books normally don't have flexible continuity and well.....five words, Scarlett Witch and choas magic. Which is why bringing the Sentry into a team book was always going to be a bad idea. Marvel was just going to use him as a brick house who was so powerful he could destory the whole universe.....🙄 By this point, I got sick and tired and people with universe destorying/universe reality warping powers. This is what DC is known for, not Marvel. Which was one of the reasons I stopped reading comics.

and this is why I only read limited series, or new series until the original author moves on.

I don't know if ripoff is is the right word, I think he's more of a parody

"He got better" as if being an apocalyptic villain is like catching a cold 😂

Owen saying "because comics" took me by surprise, highlight of the video for me

Love this guy’s “real life” backstory. With a death of a fake artist and Stan Lee co creating him. But acts like he has little memory of him.