Josh Brolin Loves Playing Thanos & Is Game For Eternals

Josh Brolin absolutely loves playing the part of Thanos, and is eager to reprise the role in The Eternals. The villain was essentially the star of this year's Avengers: Infinity War, which essentially inverted the Hero's Journey to set Thanos up as the star of the film. And it seems Brolin is keen to return to the MCU, potentially even after 2019's as-yet-untitled Avengers 4.

It's been an exciting year for Brolin, who starred in not one but two Marvel superhero movies. He played the time-traveling warrior Cable in Deadpool 2, and the Mad Titan himself, Thanos, in Avengers: Infinity War. Both were tremendous roles, but Brolin has already admitted he preferred the part of Thanos. Brolin went in expecting the mo-cap experience to be a frustrating one - "my expectation was pretty low," he explained, "given that I just thought I was a prop." In reality though, he found the experience to be a thrilling one.

At the Sicario 2 press junket, we had an exclusive opportunity to speak to Brolin about Thanos's possible future. We asked specifically about The Eternals, a Marvel project with strong ties to Thanos. Amusingly, it seems Brolin was actually unaware this film is in the works. Here's the conversation:

Screen Rant: Are there any plans post Avengers 4? We know that Marvel is developing the Eternals, which Thanos is...

Josh Brolin: I didn't know that.

Screen Rant: Yeah.

Josh Brolin: Oh good. Does that mean I'll be in it?

Screen Rant: I'm hoping. That's my hope at least.

Josh Brolin: (Laughs) That always good to know.

Screen Rant: Thanos is such an interesting character. Half philosopher, half warrior, and you portray that perfectly.

Josh Brolin: Yeah, you know what, I don't know what the future brings and who knows, but [I] love the idea of something infinite like this. I've never been involved in sequels. The fact that we've done some of Avengers 2, oh sorry, Avengers 4 but Infinity War 2, I'm going back. I'm going to do more, and we're going to do some reshoots and all that. So, I'm excited about all that. I love the Russos. I love working on the Avengers. I didn't think I was going to and I actually loved it. I didn't even like it. I loved it. I like playing that character. It's a Brando-esqe, Apocalyptic Now character and it's fun, but you know, I don't know. I don't know what the future holds. I've been surprised my entire career so we'll see.

Avengers 4 is set to undergo additional photography in the Fall, and it seems Brolin will be required on set. The actual plot of Avengers 4 is steeped in mystery, with Marvel currently refusing to even give away the title, which is apparently a spoiler of some kind. This is expected to resolve the cliffhanger ending of Avengers: Infinity War, with Earth's surviving heroes either averting or preventing the "snap" from ever happening. Thanos's fate, of course, remains unknown. Marvel has a habit of killing off their villains, but fans are rather hoping Thanos will survive to return in the future.

If he does indeed survive, The Eternals would be a logical place for Thanos to appear. Avengers: Infinity War effectively teased the existence of the Eternals, with scenes set on their ravaged homeworld of Titan. It's possible this will serve as some sort of prequel, exploring the MCU backstory of the powerful race of aliens, but more likely is that Thanos's people aren't as extinct as he believed. That would make a fascinating arc for the Mad Titan, calling into question every one of his motives.

It's no surprise that Brolin isn't up to speed on the latest Marvel movie news. After all, he's been too busy acting to keep checking! The Eternals is still in the earliest stages of pre-production, so Marvel would have had no reason to reach out to Brolin yet if he is intended to return.