Josh Brolin first played Thanos in 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy, and later took centre stage in Avengers: Infinity War. The Mad Titan was the latter movie's lead in many ways, and while he was beheaded in the opening moments of Avengers: Endgame, the villain later returned as a Variant.
Being snapped out of existence by Iron Man was where Thanos' story ended, though What If...? showed us that he still has plenty of Variants scattered throughout the Multiverse. We'll meet King Thanos as part of an upcoming Disneyland ride, but what about Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars?
Talking to Josh Horowitz, Josh Brolin reflected on playing Thanos and confirmed that he'd happily reprise the role if the Russo Brothers come calling.
"There's a level of absurdity that I enjoy so much...I've said it a million times, but it goes back to black box theatre, where you have no money and you're pretending that this thing is a gun," the actor explained. "If you have enough conviction, people will actually start to think it's a gun. There was a level of that in [Avengers]."
"They were afraid it was gonna get out, so they would give us a phoney scene and then give us the real scene when we'd get there, which, to me, is hell. I can't prep, I'm thinking about the lines, and all this stuff, but it all worked out. That was supposed to be a cameo. When it was first brought to me, I was doing the Everest movie in London, and they brought me this huge bible, and it was just this little thin,g and I'd be in it for 10 minutes. They changed it. It turned into this whole thing."
"Deadpool 2, I was like, I was glad it was one experience. The Thanos thing, if they called me in London right now, and said, 'Let's do this,' I'd be like, 'I'll be there tomorrow,'" Brolin admitted. "I talk to Downey probably four to six times a year. I talk to the Russos probably four to six times a week. I talk to Joe a lot. I love both of them."
Sharing his take on what the Russo Brothers are bringing to the table with Doomsday and Secret Wars, the actor said, "Of course they're going to come up with something fun. Who knows? That was a 10-year in-the-building kind of thing, and that was its own bookended deal. I don't know what they're going to do, but I'm sure it will be interesting. I think they do that very, very well."
You may recall that DC Studios wanted Brolin to play Hal Jordan in the upcoming Lanterns TV series, though he was among a handful of actors who ultimately passed on the project before Kyle Chandler was cast.
Asked which he most regrets turning down between that and working with James Cameron on Avatar (he later confirmed that he was up for Stephen Lang's role), Brolin replied, "[Laughs] James Cameron. I heard Green Lantern...I know it's Kyle Chander and Paula Patton, who I did a pilot with. I'm sure excited to see it. I can't wait to see it. I love Kyle Chander. I think he's solid. He's fantastic."
Paula Patton? Either the actor has gotten confused, or the Mission: Impossible franchise star has secretly been cast as Carol Ferris! We'll have to wait and see on that front, but it seems Brolin is far more interested in making an MCU return than joining the DCU.
It's interesting that he once again alluded to not enjoying his Deadpool 2 experience, as that surely pours cold water on rumours that he will reunite with Ryan Reynolds as Cable in the actor's planned X-Force movie.
You can hear more from Brolin in the player below.