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Thunderbolts' Sentry was conceived as an Hourman pitch for DC Comics' Vertigo, says co-creator Paul Jenkins
One aspect of the original Hourman idea that did end up carrying over to The Sentry was drug addiction. However, that aspect was MUCH more central to the Hourman pitch, until a Vertigo comics legend told Jenkins to reconsider
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You may recall, in the weeks after the debut of Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts*, that co-creator of The Sentry Paul Jenkins went on record to say that he had pitched the character to both DC and Marvel multiple times before landing it the character in the latter (here's The Hollywood Reporter on the story, in case you need). But like the psyche of the breakout character played by Lewis Pullman, there's more to Sentry's story, and in a recent interview, Jenkins dropped an absolute bombshell about his origins.
According to the acclaimed Inhumans and Origins co-writer, The Sentry began not as an original character at all, but as an idea for longtime DC character (and JSA staple) Hourman.
Jenkins revealed all this in a June 2 interview with podcast Traversing the Stars, hosted by Jeffrey Haas. At about the 7-minute mark, Jenkins begins recounting the idea for the character, which came to him while he was working at DC Comic's once-and-future mature comics wing, Vertigo.
"[Sentry] was originally conceived," Jenkins explains, "as a story for Hourman when I was working at Vertigo. I really wanted to write the idea that somebody would be addicted to the pill that makes them a superhero for 1 hour."
(In case you don't know, a pill that gives someone superpowers has been the concept behind Hourman since the character debuted all the way back in 1940. In the near-century since, the natural idea of drug addiction has been worked into the character's story, as it also has been worked into the Sentry's backstory. Check out all the (surprising!) references to meth addiction in the Thunderbolts* movie).
"[The idea was] they couldn't take it for a while," the writer continues, "So they would have this incredible addiction and it would be it would be really, really difficult to overcome. It was a story about addiction only."
So what stopped Vertigo from picking up Jenkin's spin on the already classic character? It was a person whose name is synonymous with the Vertigo brand, and who regular readers know is perhaps one of the most consequential individuals in modern comics history.
"Karen Berger, the editor-in-chief at Vertigo," Jenkins concludes, "Said, 'Look, you should create a new character to see if it would work.'"
Jenkins admits that it, for a while, the idea simply did not work. It would be some time yet until the alter ego of The Void came into the picture, as well as until Marvel decided it was worthy to include in their Marvel Knight's line. However, had that change not been made, it's certain that the character that so many THunderbolts* viewers came away loving would have never existed.
So what we're saying is - we'll never be able to stop thanking you, Karen Berger.
Consider this a meta post-credits scene for Marvel fans - the four key articles you need to read next to continue the thrills:
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