The Sentinel is considered by many to be one of Marvel Comics’ strongest superheroes, but such a reputation does Bob Reynolds a great disservice. With the power of a million exploding suns, the Golden Guardian of Good wields abilities far above not only mortal men, but most of his superheroic counterparts.
The Sentry’s power set is nothing short of divine. And while he has access to more traditional superpowers like flight and super strength, it’s these abilities that make him greater than any simple superhero.
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Invisibility
One of the Sentry’s lesser-known abilities is the classic superpower of invisibility. Using his mastery over energy to alter light rays and avoid detection, Reynolds’ stealth capabilities are surprisingly underestimated. Civil War: The Return #1from Sentry creator Paul Jenkins, Tom Raney and Scott Hanna has Bob receiving these abilities after his powers are imitated by Crusher Creel, the Absorbing Man.
Creel’s invisibility turn allows him to sneak up on the Golden Guardian of Good – an impressive feat considering Sentry’s own highly advanced senses – so it stands to reason that Bob’s innate powers of invisibility are just as powerful as those of the copycat Creel. While it’s far from the biggest weapon in Reynolds’ arsenal, it’s still an ability that adds to all of his other most iconic powers.
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Teleportation
Sentry is most often seen flying through the air in a golden stream of light, but this is far from his only way of getting around. Above all, Reynolds’ power set includes the ability to teleport. Capable of transporting himself great distances in a blinding flash of light, Sentry has demonstrated these abilities on more than one occasion.
New Avengers #8 by Brian Michael Bendis, Steve McNiven and Mark Morales sees Bob use these abilities to evade Captain America, Iron Man and even his own wife, Lindy. And there have been other cases where his teleportation powers are strong enough that he has been able to move from the Sun back to Earth in the blink of an eye, or teleport through high-tech force fields designed by himself. Reed Richards.
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Psychic Infection
Bob’s twisted relationship with the Void may be one of his greatest weaknesses, but it is also one of his greatest defenses against potentially hostile psychic invasions. The Void is sentient darknesscapable of infecting everything it touches, including foreign minds, and that’s exactly what happens to Emma Frost in Dark Avengers/Weird X-Men: Exodus by Matt Fraction, Mike Deodato Jr. and Terry Dodson.
When the White Queen enters Bob’s mind to take him out of the Dark Avengers’ fight against the X-Men, she is able to temporarily separate the Sentry from his darker half. Unfortunately, this psychic attack leaves a thread of Void in her mind – forcing her to remain in diamond form so that it doesn’t take over her body. This is not a weapon Bob uses consciously, but it makes the invasion of his mind even more dangerous.
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Superhuman senses
Bob’s solar-powered musculature may be his most obvious skill set, but it’s far from his only hyper-powered physical attribute. In addition to all his enormous strength, the Sentry’s superhuman senses are equally advanced – even compared to other super-sensory heroes like Daredevil or Wolverine.
In Sentinel #2 by Paul Jenkins, John Romita Jr. and Mark Morales, Bob goes so far as to say that he “I can hear a butterfly sneeze in Central Africa,” in his Manhattan Watchtower. With senses that advance, Reynolds’ perceptions border on omniscienceand he essentially experiences the entire world at once. With a constant awareness like that, it’s no wonder Reynolds gets more than a little overwhelmed. But if the Sentry wants to find someone, there’s practically nowhere on Earth he can hide.
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Umbrakinesis
While the Sentry is most commonly associated with blinding light, his Void personality is the ultimate epitome of darkness. As such, the Void and the Sentry himself, once he finally merged with his darker halfare capable of massive feats of dark manipulation. Able to create and manipulate shadowy constructs of the otherworldly darkness associated with the Void, Reynolds’ connection to darkness is as powerful as his obvious connection to light.
This versatility makes Bob even more powerful than many might imagine, as his connection to such opposing forces reflects not only his internal struggle against the Void, but also the entire spectrum of pure power he has access to. With enough practice, the Sentry can master both darkness and light, adding yet another layer to his already impressive skill set.
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Energy Absorption
While the Sentry’s abilities may, at first glance, appear solar-powered in nature, like DC Comics’ Superman, the source of Reynolds’ power is actually much more expansive. Able to absorb virtually any form of energy to fuel his power of a million exploding suns, it is very difficult to completely cut off the Sentry from any and all power unless he manages to expend all of his energy at once.
New Rays #14 by Fabien Nicieza, Tom Grummett, and Gary Erskine describes this ability quite succinctly, simply stating that “Sentry can draw power from anywhere and everywhere.” With these reserves of energy at his command, Reynolds’ stamina is beyond superhuman. And only a handful of similarly powered heavyweights like Thor or the Hulk have really pushed him to his limits.
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Energy loan
The Sentry’s abilities are such that he is already god-like, but it is the ability to share these powers with others that helps elevate him to status of almost deified proportions. On more than one occasion, Bob Reynolds has shared his considerable powers with those close to him. From his super-powered pup, Watchdog, to his former companion known as Scout, some beings have had the chance to wield the Sentry’s abilities on their own – even after his apparent death at the hands of Knull.
And not every power he shares needs to perfectly replicate his own innate abilities. There have been several instances where he has used his power to simply bolster those of others, whether it be bolstering the Hulk against the threat of the Void or recharging Iron Man’s armor.
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Biokinesis
In addition to empowering others as he sees fit, Reynolds is also capable of performing new feats of biophysical manipulation in potentially limitless ways. As a Sentinel, Bob cured others of seemingly incurable circumstances – he even managed to cure his therapist’s daughter, bringing her out of a vegetative state and curing her back problems with his mere presence. But for every action the Sentry takes, the Void responds with an equal and opposite reaction.
This theme extends to Reynolds’ biological manipulation abilities, as the Void harms where the Sentry heals. In Sentinel #8 by Paul Jenkins, John Romita Jr., and Mark Morales, the Void is said to have given a young mother an incurable form of breast cancer across the country. In the right hands, these abilities change the world, but for Bob, it’s just one more power in an endless list.
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Resurrection
The Sentry’s biokinesis is not limited to simple healing, and he is even managed to unconsciously resurrect the dead in times of great pressure. Following the murder of his wife, Lindy, at the hands of Ultron, Reynolds returns to the Watchtower to find her alive and well. Mighty Avengers #6 by Brian Michael Bendis, Frank Cho and Jason Keith.
Totally unaware of his death, Lindy tells her stunned husband that she was just sleeping when the shocked Sentinel collapsed, but the ramifications of this trauma reinforce how insanely powerful the Golden Guardian truly is. If he truly masters this ability, it would be a paradigm shift not unlike the advent of the X-Men’s Krakoan Resurrection Protocols. But in the meantime, Sentry will have to work on a smaller scale.
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Molecular Manipulation
What really sets the Sentry a notch above his fellow heroes is the power he never truly mastered: molecular manipulation. Presumably the source of the rest of his impressive array of abilities, Reynolds’ control over molecules is such that his abilities are literally godlike. Dark Avengers #12 by Brian Michael Bendis, Mike Deodato Jr. and Greg Horn pits the Sentry against Molecule Man – a being of godlike power who has rewrote the reality of the Marvel Universe on more than one occasion – and surprisingly he emerged victorious.
While Reynolds doesn’t have the mastery and subtlety of Molecule Man, it’s clear that he has surpassed Owen Reece in terms of sheer, raw power, and is capable of creating constructs and even sentient entities by rearranging molecules at will. Above all, it is this ability that elevates Bob to divine status. And when the Sentinel eventually makes his definitive return to the Marvel Universe, Only God knows what he will do next.