Josh Brolin has revealed the thing that cinched the deal when he was first offered the part of Thanos in the MCU.
In hindsight, taking on the gig was a great move, as the Mad Titan turned out to be the biggest, baddest foe in the whole franchise and is set to go down as one of the all-time best movie villains. At first, though, Brolin didn’t know what was in store for him in the Marvel universe, so he only agreed to sign on for the role for one reason: the promise that he’d get to fight ALL the Avengers, not just one.
The Endgame star recently spoke to acclaimed cinematographer Roger Deakins and his wife on their Team Deakins podcast and explained that he had turned down a few comic book films before Thanos came up. Given that his first appearance was a brief cameo in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy, he wasn’t bowled over by the money or the screen time he was getting. But a character bible he received teased that his villain was set to battle all of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. And that proved too enticing an opportunity to pass up.
“I turned down quite a bit of those things and again people were like “money!” When I said yes to Avengers 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.”
After Damion Poitier filled the role for a silent cameo at the end of The Avengers, Brolin took over as the Mad Titan for Guardians. He then returned for a second cameo in Age of Ultron the following year. But in 2018’s Infinity War, he really got to make his mark, with the filmmakers often describing Thanos as the protagonist of the movie. He then returned in Endgame, where he was finally defeated – twice over.
This being the MCU, though, where anything can happen, the door is always open for Thanos to return yet again. But it sounds like Brolin has already achieved the thing that drew him to the role in the first place – facing down all of the Avengers and coming out on top. At least, for a little bit.