Thunderbolts* Villain Was Originally John Walker In Early Drafts

The villain of Thunderbolts* was originally John Walker in early drafts says writer Eric Pearson in a recent interview. Pearson was the writer at the early stages of development on Thunderbolts*, though it passed into different hands to get to the version we see on screen. Speaking with Screen Rant, Pearson reveals he had John Walker as the villain originally. However, as the story developed it became apparent Walker would not work, and so Sentry became the antagonist.

“The original drafts of this had John Walker as the punching villain at the end. The idea was that part of Val’s manipulation was that she had told him that his serum was wearing off, and she was doing these medications to keep him going. In reality, he was a time bomb; a Hulk kind of thing. There was going to be a bit of a “Sun’s getting real low” moment because from the beginning of this, it was like, “I want to end our third act fight with a hug.”

“That version was kind of fun, but ultimately didn’t work and didn’t feel right tone-wise. I had already kind of layered in the whole Breakfast Club thing, so I was like, “I want someone that they can’t beat in a punching fight and that they have to connect to in an emotional way.”

RELATED: Thunderbolts* Marketing Being Switched To New Avengers By Marvel

It was this that led Pearson to Sentry.

“But back in the Marvel Writers program that I did in 2010 or 2011, I’d read the Sentry comics. In the comics, it’s like the golden God of Good vs. Pure Evil. But I was like, “What if it’s heroic ambition and self-esteem versus self-loathing and depression and loneliness?” He’s basically the entire journey for our heroes rolled into one entity. So, I put him in, and he fit so perfectly. Then it was all about finding and defining the Void space and stuff like that.”

Pearson also explained why this version of Sentry wasn’t really involved in everything else we’ve seen in the MCU thus far, like happened in the comics. 

“It’s one of those things that’s similar to Zemo, where the story in the comics is that the Sentry has so much power and is so great… He existed since the Golden Age and then realized he was a threat, so he erased his memory from everyone. It’s such a fun comic book idea that’s not going to translate into this movie very well, but you want to take as many elements as you can.”

“We took the memory loss, the duality of his character, and the fact that he was an experiment gone wrong. You want to just take as much to honor the comics, and then fit it into the movie world in the best way. And I take a lot of pride in that because it’s a hard thing to do and figure out the right way, so it doesn’t seem forced.”

What do you think of the news that Thunderbolts* villain was originally John Walker? Are you happier the story morphed into something more akin to the version we got in theatres? Thoughts below. 

The post Thunderbolts* Villain Was Originally John Walker In Early Drafts appeared first on LRMonline.