When it comes to getting a second attempt at redeeming their reputation in the comic book realm after initially being part of a disastrous comic book film, surprisingly, Ryan Reynolds isn’t alone in this bracket. Although MCU struggled to craft the perfect villain in most of their entries, with Josh Brolin’s Thanos, they managed to overcome this problem and crafted one of the very best in the comic book realm.
However, before garnering success from playing the iconic villain for years, the actor had to sustain his fair share of lows, and one of his earliest comic book roles almost ended his career.
Josh Brolin’s career sustained a severe blow with his DC debut
Before making his way into Marvel, Josh Brolin joined forces with Megan Fox to make his DC debut as Jonah Hex, a character that has previously appeared in multiple DC publications. However, the Western Comic book flick directed by Jimmy Hayward wasn’t well received among fans and critics, and the duo of Megan Fox and Josh Brolin also earned a nomination for ‘Worst Screen Couple’ by the Golden Raspberry Awards. But the disappointing results weren’t much surprising for Brolin, as he expressed that the bashing of Jonah Hex was justified. He stated,
“I think it deserved that bashing for reasons that those critics will never know. We were almost ready to drop [ the film] when this kid [ Hayward ] came up. He was an interesting young guy full of energy and he was obsessed with Jonah Hex. I thought, ‘This is either a really bad decision or a brilliant decision.'”
But just like his Deadpool costar, after finding himself in a disastrous DC movie, the actor got the opportunity to redeem himself in the Marvel landscape, eventually becoming one of its biggest positives.
Josh Brolin eventually redeemed himself in the comic book landscape
Although making a comic book debut with a movie like Jonah Hex might have ended his future in this field in other circumstances, in this case, things worked out just fine for the actor. Just like Ryan Reynolds, who experienced a similar situation after the disastrous performance of Green Lantern, later finding his footing as Deadpool, Brolin found his success as Thanos in the MCU. Reflecting on his success as the Mad Titan, as fans commended Brolin’s performance despite the heavy CGI, Brolin is definitely proud of his accomplishments. He stated,
“[Thanos] was a huge undertaking for me. When you have my kind of gravitas, I understand why they would go, ‘That guy could kind of bring some real weight to the purple dude’, but I didn’t get it at first. […] It was a top-notch performance.”
But this isn’t the only superhero role he has garnered under his belt, as he went on to play the character of Cable in the Deadpool franchise. Even though Jonah Hex was a critical and commercial disaster, which only ended up making $11 million from a budget of $47 million, it didn’t stop Brolin from climbing the ladder of success.
Jonah Hex is available to stream on Apple TV.
Source: Total Film
