This isn’t Lewis Pullman’s first “Bob”
Lewis Pullman is playing a character named Bob in Thunderbolts*. They won’t say he is Sentry but his name IS Bob though. Many are theorizing about his character and whether he is Robert “Bob” Reynolds and this is, in fact, our new Sentry. I’m more interested in the “Bob” part.
Pullman, who has stared in a number of iconic movies so far throughout his career, is no stranger to playing a character named Bob. I have, effectively, dubbed him “Bob Squared” because the film that arguably turned him into the internet boyfriend he is was Top Gun: Maverick, where he played Robert “Bob” Floyd whose call sign was…Bob.
Jake “Hangman” Seresin (Glen Powell) called him “Baby On Board” to make fun of him but we all collectively fell in love with Bob. So now, I am very happy that he’s Bob once more. I talked with Pullman for his film Skincare and he even pointed out that I coined the phrase “Bob Squared.”
But as a fan of the Bob/Pullman universe, let’s talk about each Bob he’s played and why I believe every single Lewis Pullman character should be named Bob.
Baby Bob Floyd
First, we love that Bob has aviator glasses for real. He’s our sweet baby who tries to be the best WSO (Weapons System Operator) he can be for Phoenix (Monica Barbaro). The issue with Bob is that he is very clearly shy. The rest of the Dagger team? Not so much. He even plays Dog Fight Football with a shirt on on the beach in the middle of summer in San Diego.
Pullman has a really special way of playing these more introverted characters and making them feel so lived in and special. I want to protect Bob and even as a Hangman girl myself, I often feel like I should be at the Hard Deck yelling at anyone who is mean to Bob.
It is truly a testament to Pullman that he played a character named BOB in Top Gun: Maverick and we all fell in love with him. He was up against Maverick, Payback, Fanboy, Rooster, and so many other amazing call signs and yet we said “I choose Bob.” That’s a skill.
The love we had for this Bob only go that much greater with the news that his character in Thunderbolts* is also a bob.
Bob who is most definitely just Sentry
Robert “Bob” Reynolds is basically the Superman of the Marvel canon. He is complicated, beautiful, and I am very excited to have someone like Pullman (probably) play him. I keep saying maybe and probably because it isn’t confirmed that this character “Bob” is Sentry. But……come on.
If you look at Sentry’s description on the official Marvel website, it tells you all you really need to know about him. “A shining sentinel, the Sentry is one of the most powerful heroes in the world, but his darker half proves to be an unstoppable destructive force at every turn.”
The character was original thought of as a look into drug addiction, much in the way that Tony Stark dealt with alcoholism. It is unclear if Pullman’s take on Bob will focus on that aspect of the character at all.
We didn’t see much of Bob in the trailer for Thunderbolts* but he is trying to not get killed by John Walker, Yelena, and Ghost and then maybe gets a bunch of bullets shot at him?! There is a lot to learn about this Bob.
But hey, at least we know that we should always have Lewis Pullman playing characters named Bob.
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