Josh Brolin was the main center of attraction in Avengers: Endgame as the big bad guy that the entire Avengers team must defeat in order to restore humanity. The film ended up becoming a phenomenal box office success, culminating eleven years of Marvel Cinematic Universe.
It was clear from the beginning that Brolin’s character would become an important figure in the superhero saga, and so his appearance in the two-part final movies was a long time coming for the fans.
Director Joe Russo Briefly Played Thanos In Avengers: Endgame
A fun fact about Josh Brolin’s Thanos was shared by Karen Gillan during her appearance at Comic Con Paris. The actress who played Nebula said that director Joe Russo would stand in place of the villain to help shoot her scenes when Brolin was not around (via ComicBook):
“You know what I love? It’s a funny story about Joe Russo. So when we were filming Endgame, we didn’t have Josh Brolin there for my scenes with Thanos, so Joe played Thanos.”
The Scottish-born star thought it weird to be acting alongside the movie’s director, and even stranger when she’s only looking up at a picture of the evil Thanos rather than the actor himself.
“It was funny to sort of be in the scene, acting with one of the directors of the movie, and he was just wearing his own clothes, and then he had a stick with a big Thanos cardboard picture sticking into the air so that I would look at the right height. I was like, ‘This is surreal.’ ”
In times when Brolin was away, Russo would gladly step in, but when the actor is available for taping, he gives his best performance according to Robert Downey Jr. The actor said of his co-star via MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios:
“To me, it’s not Thanos, it’s Brolin. Because he’s the one who is making this avatar be scary. And he’s a sweet guy, but he’s a formidable guy.”
Fans have evidently seen the tremendous effect of Thanos in both Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, and while Russo deserves credit for his efforts, Brolin is still the main guy.
Thanos Was Originally A Cameo Role
In a bizarre turn of events where Josh Brolin interviewed himself via Variety’s Actors on Actors, he revealed that Thanos was supposed to play a minor role in the Avengers saga.
“What a lot of people don’t know is that when they came to me, it was for a cameo, you know? It was just a little thing in Infinity War, and I blew everybody away so much that they ended up making two movies out of it. It was a top-notch performance.”
The change in the decision to make Thanos the central antagonist in the movie was definitely the best move made by the Avengers creative team. The performance was lauded both by fans and critics, and there’s no other actor who can bring the villain to life than Brolin himself.
Avengers: Endgame is available to watch on Disney+.
