Josh Brolin addresses his potential return to Marvel as Thanos
Josh Brolin is open to returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) as Thanos.
The 57-year-old actor played the franchise’s big bad in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame in 2019, and Brolin has now said he would consider playing the Mad Titan again if director Joe Russo approached him with the right idea.
Speaking with Entertainment Tonight, he said: “If Joe Russo comes to me, which he may have, I don't know, and has an idea, then I might acquiesce. Probably pretty quickly.”
The Knives Out star previously said he would be open to coming back to the MCU, as long as doing so felt “right” - much like his return for the 2018 Sicario sequel Day of the Soldado.
He explained to Collider: “I’m not kidding - there’s a thing with playing Thanos. It’s like, Oh, they’re gonna bring Thanos back.’ It’s like Sicario; it has to be right.
“It’s like Ryan Reynolds and I talking about Taylor Swift and we should be talking about Deadpool 4. But we go back and forth.”
Brolin heaped praise on Avengers directors Joe and Anthony Russo, and added he “would do anything” the pair wanted him to do in a potential future Marvel movie.
The Dune actor said: “Again, it’s what in his mind fits, what in my mind fits. Thanos has to fit if you’re going to bring him back. I would do anything that the Russos wanted me to do.”
After helming Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, the Russo brothers are coming back for 2026’s Avengers: Doomsday and its sequel Avengers: Secret Wars in 2027.
Avengers: Doomsday will see the return of X-Men icons Sir Patrick Stewart (Professor X), Sir Ian McKellen (Magneto), Kelsey Grammer (Beast), Alan Cumming (Nightcrawler), Channing Tatum (Gambit), James Marsden (Cyclops) and Rebecca Romijn (Mystique).
Meanwhile, Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Paul Rudd (Ant-Man), Anthony Mackie (Captain America), Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova), Sebastian Stan (James ‘Bucky’ Barnes), Wyatt Russell (U.S. Agent) and Lewis Pullman (Sentry) are also confirmed to appear in the film.
Finally, the Fantastic Four - as portrayed by Pedro Pascal (Mr. Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby (Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn (The Human Torch) and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Thing) - round out the cast.
Avengers: Doomsday will likely follow the Avengers, the New Avengers, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four as they join forces to stop Doctor Doom (Robert Downey Jr.) from unleashing his devastating plans across the Multiverse.
Tatum - who first played Gambit in 2024’s Deadpool and Wolverine - recently teased Avengers: Doomsday would “melt everybody’s brain” due to its grand scale.
The 45-year-old actor told People: “I think that they really set themselves up for a really hard bar to hit. Every single movie that they make is the next one has to top it.
“When I read the script, I was just like, ‘What?!’ I don't think anybody's really going to understand how they did this. It's going to melt everybody's brain all over again.”
