Thanos turned out to be the greatest MCU villain of all time. One could argue that he was actually the best cinematic villain and the real reason for that was Josh Brolin. His take upon Thanos is what took him from the level of a random CGI monstrosity into a smart, relatable, layered and powerful villain. The moment Josh Brolin’s role for the MCU was announced, it made perfect sense as his voice & face wreaked of Thanos in every way. But there was a chance where Marvel would have had to find another actor to play Thanos as Josh Brolin wasn’t completely sold on the idea initially.
In the past, Brolin had revealed that he was reluctant upon taking on Thanos because of the motion capture element of the role. He also consulted Mark Ruffalo, before taking on the role. Ruffalo’s verdict upon the matter was huge because it helped in convincing Josh Brolin. At the same time, Brolin was also in talks to play Batman in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. But thankfully for us, both Brolin & Snyder decided that he wasn’t right for the part and ultimately Ben Affleck got it. As for Brolin, he got into talks with Marvel.
On the Team Deakins podcast (via ScreenRant), Josh Brolin spoke to cinematographer Roger Deakins and he revealed the reason why he took on the Thanos role. He also stated why he may have rejected the big opportunity. He said:
“I turned down quite a bit of those things and again people were like ‘money!’ When I said yes to Avengers [Age of Ultron] it was a small thing. It was basically a cameo, so there was not a lot of money involved. So that wasn’t the reason. But when they came to me they gave me a big bible. I loved that it was all [of them]. If it had been one of the Avengers — and I don’t mean this, I probably shouldn’t say this but I’m just gonna say it — I probably wouldn’t have done it. But the fact that it was all the Avengers against this one guy. I liked that aspect of it.”
We’re glad that Brolin took on the role because we just cannot imagine anyone else playing the role. Maybe Ron Perlman could have picked up the role, but Brolin’s take was just perfect. Even the creator of Thanos, Jim Starlin has agreed to the fact that any other actor in the role is just unimaginable. Here’s what he said last year:
“When they first started talking about getting a name actor to play Thanos, Josh Brolin wasn’t on my radar at all. But now that I’ve seen him as the character, I have a hard time imagining anybody else playing him.
He captured the movement and the cadence of the language, everything so marvelously that he had such a weight to the character. I haven’t got a complaint in the world about him, he’s terrific as far as his portrayal of the guy, even more so in the new movie.”
Josh Brolin was so good as Thanos that even after the villain has died twice in the MCU, we still hope for his return. He could be seen in Loki or Eternals next year. If Josh Brolin doesn’t get to be back as Thanos, then we hope that he will actually return as Cable. He was great as Cable as well, so along with Deadpool, Marvel could also bring him back as the futuristic mutant.
He recently revealed how Cable was actually harder to pull off as compared to Thanos. He said:
“‘Deadpool’ was hard. Even though it was funny, it was harder. That was more of a business transaction, it was more, ‘We need to make this like this,’ which I didn’t feel that way with ‘Avengers.’ With those directors, they would constantly go back and reference ‘Scarface’ or ‘Dog Day Afternoon.’ Whether or not it was a manipulation, they knew what to throw out there to bring it back into something inspired.”
Even though the appearance in Deadpool 2 was tougher, Brolin still loved playing the character and is hopeful of a return. So, let’s see if Marvel will bring him within the MCU.
