Josh Brolin first took on the role of Thanos in 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy and later reprised the role in 2018's Avengers: Infinity War. The Mad Titan was that movie's lead, and while Thor beheaded him a year later in Avengers: Endgame's opening, the villain returned as his 2014 Variant.
Iron Man snapped him out of existence, and that was where Thanos' story ended. However, What If...? showed us that he still has plenty of Variants scattered throughout the Multiverse. We'll meet King Thanos as part of an upcoming Disneyland ride, but what about Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars?
Rumours have swirled for a while that we'll see the villain in the latter, hopefully recreating the scene from Secret Wars where Doctor Doom tears Thanos' skeleton from his body.
During an interview with Collider for The Dog Stars, Brolin was asked whether he thinks the Mad Titan is "dead-dead" or whether he could make a comeback. Interestingly, the actor was surprisingly coy, stating, "I don't know how to answer that question." It sure sounds like he has something to hide, eh?
Later, reflecting on the character's story arc, Brolin said, "He got rid of half the universe in order to save the other half. That was the justification — which is not necessarily wrong. Do you know what I mean?"
Avengers: Secret Wars is the perfect opportunity to bring Thanos back, even if it's in a fairly minor capacity. He was, after all, the Infinity Saga's big bad, so pitting him against Victor Von Doom is an idea with heaps of exciting storytelling potential (even if it doesn't follow the comics).
Talking in 2022 about a possible return, the actor said, "[Marvel Studios has] their own trajectory that they're worrying about and if they want me to do it, I would do it I'm sure, but I don't know what they're thinking. We've kind of bookended this thing after 10 years. I was so happy and I loved being involved in that so much because that wasn't the intention when I first got involved."
Since then, Brolin has hinted at working with Marvel Studios and the Russo Brothers again, making it clear he's eager to revisit Thanos in some way. While we wouldn't bank on seeing him in Avengers: Doomsday, Thanos will be back in theaters next month for Avengers Endgame: Encore.
In Avengers: Doomsday, beloved heroes from three distinct universes will be set on a deadly collision course and face an existential threat unlike anything they’ve ever encountered.
Avengers: Doomsday stars Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Mackie, Winston Duke, Tom Hiddleston, Sebastian Stan, Letitia Wright, Paul Rudd, and Robert Downey Jr. Wyatt Russell, Simu Liu, Tenoch Huerta Mejia, Mabel Cadena, Florence Pugh, Danny Ramirez, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, Lewis Pullman, India Rose Hemsworth, and Wesley Holloway all make their Avengers franchise debuts.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps leads Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn join them, as do X-Men franchise stars Kelsey Grammer, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn, James Marsden, with Deadpool & Wolverine star Channing Tatum.
Avengers: Doomsday is set to be released on December 18, with Avengers: Secret Wars scheduled to arrive on December 17, 2027.