Ask any film fan worth their salt to pinpoint two of the biggest movies releasing in 2018 and you’ll likely find that Avengers: Infinity War and Deadpool 2 rank very highly indeed.
Coming out of SDCC, the excitement for Marvel’s event movie is through the roof, while David Leitch’s anti-hero sequel recently unveiled Zazie Beetz (Atlanta) suited and booted as Domino, the skilled marksman who will be sharing the screen with the Merc With a Mouth.
But with the exception of industry legend Stan Lee, Josh Brolin has the unique privilege of holding roles across both Infinity War and Deadpool 2, which means that 2018 is shaping up to be a year to remember for the Oscar nominee. The former tentpole will involve stepping into the monstrous boots of Thanos – albeit via a motion capture performance – and though Brolin’s addition to Fox’s Deadpool sequel took ardent comic book fans by surprise, David Leitch has gone on record to clarify the somewhat controversial Cable casting.
While doing press for his Cold War thriller Atomic Blonde, Leitch outlined the thinking process behind that casting choice during an interview with Cinema Blend, all the while hailing Josh Brolin as the perfect candidate for the gig.
I think everybody in sort of the Marvel and Fox world considered it, and they take their time and make measured moves. But I think everyone thought it was prudent and was okay in terms of the way Thanos is portrayed and Cable is portrayed. They’re very different in styles, and in terms of the way they are presented in the movies, obviously.
We couldn’t have cast a better Cable. We were filming last night and both [Brolin and Deadpool himself, Ryan Reynolds] were on set, and the chemistry is amazing. It’s such a fun movie to be on. I’m really grateful.
Filming on Deadpool 2 continues apace ahead of its June 1st, 2018 due date, while Marvel fans have their eyes firmly trained on May 4th in anticipation of Avengers: Infinity War, which is shaping up to be the event movie to end all event movies.
