Steven Yeun Has Dropped Out Of Marvel Studios’s 'Thunderbolts'

His exit seems to have arisen because of the studios delaying the filming and release of their films

When Marvel Studios gets around to officially announcing the rest of the cast of their upcoming Thunderbolts, it won’t include Steven Yeun as Sentry. The Beef actor has reportedly exited the ragtag antihero team film. The role is likely to be recast, as it was considered a major role when Yeun was brought on.

Yeun’s casting was first reported in February, a piece that became my last for the old gig. The casting was never officially announced. It was only about six weeks ago that Robert Kirkman, creator of comic and animated series Invincible on which Yeun is the title star, revealed that he had specifically been cast as Sentry. Yeun’s departure is being chalked up to the pause and delays brought on by the studios not agreeing to fair contracts for their actors and writers until the fall, leading to unspecified scheduling conflicts by the time Thunderbolts finally starts filming this March or April. Starting about a month after the film paused production, Disney chose to delay it what ended up being a year, in the same weekend from July 26, 2024 to July 25, 2025.

It was September 2022 at the D23 Expo when the team composition was announced for the film to be directed by Jake Schreier, that being Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes the Winter Soldier, David Harbour as Red Guardian Alexei Shostakov, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Wyatt Russell as John Walker the US Agent, Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr aka Ghost, Olga Kurylenko as Antonia Dreykov the Taskmaster, and Ayo Edebiri, whose role hasn’t been revealed yet in any capacity. Harrison Ford is set to make his second appearance as (possible President) Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross. Black Widow writer Eric Pearson is writing this script as well, and studio president Kevin Feige is currently the only identified producer. The plot is so unknown that the reveal of Sentry was the best insight into it since then, when it was just two months after it was included in the slate announcement at San Diego Comic-Con. The Thunderbolts would definitely draw Suicide Squad comparisons even to a casual comic book movie audience.

Yeun is an Emmy nominee for Outstanding Lead Actor for his role in the Netflix series Beef, and an Academy Award nominee for 2020’s Minari. His breakout role was as Glenn on The Walking Dead, but he’s also accrued quite a voice acting resume, as Keith on Voltron: Legendary Defender, Nathan/Wingspan on Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters, Steve Palchuk across the Tales of Arcadia series, Little Cato on Final Space, Speckle on Tuca & Bertie, and Wan, the original Avatar on two starring episodes of The Legend of Korra. What Yeun does have this year is Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17 and Love Me, starring Kristen Stewart.

Sources: The Hollywood Reporter (2), Deadline