Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo wish their co-star Josh Brolin a happy birthday with behind the scenes photos from the Avengers movies. Downey of course had the distinction of kicking off the MCU with 2008’s Iron Man, and later on Ruffalo joined the party in the role of Bruce Banner aka The Hulk. Brolin then arrived on the scene in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War, playing the galactic supervillain Thanos.

Thanos obviously began to be teased prior to Infinity War, though the character was not played by Brolin until his voice appeared in Avengers: Age of Ultron. When the villain did finally arrive in full he turned out to be the most powerful adversary yet faced by Earth’s greatest superhero team The Avengers. Indeed Thanos seemed to have defeated Iron Man, Hulk and the gang by the end of Infinity War, while snapping half of all life in the universe out of existence as part of his insane plan to achieve “balance.” But Avengers: Endgame saw Earth’s heroes regrouping, with help from some characters not of the Earth, in order to not only defeat Thanos but put right everything that was made wrong by the snap (with Iron Man of course sacrificing himself along the way).

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It’s been nearly two years since Avengers: Endgame hit theaters, breaking box office records while bringing an end to an era of Marvel movies, but the film’s impact on pop culture is still being felt. It’s clear the experience of making the Avengers movies also had a big impact on the stars involved as they continue to be friends away from the movie set, and keep on interacting via social media. As a case in point, Downey and Ruffalo both took to their social media accounts to wish Thanos actor Brolin a happy birthday as he turned 53 on February 12, 2021. See their touching tributes, using behind the scenes images from the Avengers movies, in the space below:

Downey’s post of course references No Country For Old Men, the Coen Brothers’ Oscar-winning 2007 film starring Brolin. Ruffalo’s post meanwhile hilariously makes reference to the strange motion capture suits the actors had to wear so artists could digitally create their superhero bodies.

The above posts are bound to make Avengers fans feel a lot of feelings as the two year anniversary of Endgame nears and the MCU stands poised on the edge of a whole new era. As of now, it seems fans will never see Downey back on the big screen as Iron Man, as the character is deceased. Ruffalo’s Hulk on the other hand is still very much alive and set to return in the upcoming Disney+ show She-Hulk. Thanos of course was seemingly dispensed with in Endgame but with such a powerful supervillain it’s impossible to say if he’s ever really gone. Brolin is scheduled to appear as Thanos on the gimmicky Marvel show What If..., but that hardly represents an "official" return to the character.

The legacy of Endgame when it comes to the MCU is of course still being felt very strongly, as evidenced by WandaVision, which is largely about dealing with the fall-out from the events of the final two installments of The Avengers. No matter what the MCU does from now on, Endgame and its universe-shaking happenings will continue to cast a big shadow over the franchise for a long time to come.

More: The MCU Finally Explores How Dark Avengers: Endgame's Blip Really Was

Source: Robert Downey Jr/Twitter, Mark Ruffalo/Instagram