What do you define as around me? Did he mean the Solar System? How do you know he didn't mean the Universe when he said the molecules around me? Maybe he just meant the molecules in a 10 foot radius?
It's not something anyone can answer and focusing on one statement to ignore the clear purpose and implications of the comic: "That Reynolds is a mental patient with more power than God and no ability to control it." is some Carver level shit. Especially since we have a well established history for Owen Reece's incredible power.
I don't think Bendis intended him to be a Multiversal destroying entity but why does that matter? Bendis had very clear boundaries on the power of Cosmics but he still choose Owen Reece to demonstrate the scary boundaries of Sentry's power. Boundaries that are far more on the level of a cosmic being than Superman or any other herald level being.
You guys are smoking weed here if you don't think Sentry would have turned Superman into a tulip in that moment. Defining the boundaries of Molecule Man over a phrase is retarded. He has absolute molecular control of everything around him. Whether it's a Multiverse or the planet Earth, he's more or less God and he clearly saw Sentry as a peer.
http://readcomiconline.to/Comic/Dark-Avengers-2009/Issue-13?id=17526
Sentry/Void are closer to God in that sense: The entire arc focused on Sentry's inability to die and having the power to do basically anything. A lot of cognitive dissonance going on here instead of just pointing out that Superman gets tentacle raped and moving on. I swear, you can make a Superman vs. Galactus thread and it would still reach ten pages with an asterisk on how possibly it can go the other way because Galactus might suck.