Originally posted by Cartesian Doubt
I think he has greater potential as a villain ... Love him or hate him, Superboy Prime has had a massive effect on D.C. I don't nessarily think having a big uber bad of this ilk would be a bad thing for Marvel.And although I haven't read the most recent DA book,s the previews/reviews certinaly insinuate that Bendis is retconning him into a Villain.
Its quite ammusing how much of a salviging job this seems to be. I presume Bendis re-introduced Sentry back into continuity, to fullfill the Thor niche on the original New Avengers team. I think he had every intention of making him into the new Thor, hence the storyline where Emma fixes his delicate mental state. But Bendis in experience as a teams writer, and House of M, meant Sentry had to be relegated to the side lines for a long while. Plus Bendis had to develop his Skrull plotline, which included a lot of Hydra and Shield espinonage, instead of End of the world castrophes; that Sentry would be more suited at.
Eventually a crisis did come along with that Xorn Collective thing from M- Day, but Bendis had to explain why the Sentry had been missing for so long.
So he played the Insanity card again, and has been doing so through out Civil War, The Intiative, Secret War and now Dark Avengers. I think he originally had every intention of making him into a mentally Strong; Superman esq character, but the enigma shrouding his powers, and character, plus the storylines Bendis was motivated to complete meant he never got the personality devlopment he required. Bendis knows that Sentry characterisation is flondering in the realms of ambiguity, and with Marvel pressing the reunion of the Trinity, there's no real need for him ... So to make him relevant, and to get the fanboy fight that evryone has been crying out for; Bendis has decided to make him the Superboy Prime of the piece. Uber powerful, corrupted, mentally unstable transitional heroe, whose going to turn everyone at the worst moment !
I don't think Sentry was ever supposed to replace Thor permanently, because Thor wasn't going to away permanently.
And I doubt Sentry was supposed to reach some kind of potential that would make him Marvel's true answer to Superman. Superman's place in DC is replicated in different ways by a number of Marvel (Earth 616)characters - Thor, Captain America, Silver Surfer, Gladiator.
Sentry's hook from the start was - as John Romita Jr. put it - "A Superman with feet of clay." His mental instability is always going to be part of him.
Plus, I believe Marvel has already played the SBP card twice with the Scarlet Witch. I think it's more likely Sentry recognizes the threat he's become and goes away - maybe even doing the memory spell he pulled before.