It’s always a tricky situation when properties combine, like Marvel and Sony, or Marvel and Fox. We have had some crossovers and some buyouts over the years, and it has made some characters double up or cross over, but one difficulty is when an actor has played two different roles in separate properties, and their worlds collide.
This is happening as Deadpool joins the MCU with his third film, Deadpool & Wolverine. In Deadpool 2, Josh Brolin played the character Cable, but Brolin is also known as the most formidable villain in the MCU to date, Thanos, who was finally defeated in Avengers: Endgame.
He is not appearing (that we know of) in Deadpool & Wolverine, and his established ties to the MCU may be why.
He spoke about the situation in a recent interview with The Playlist’s Bingeworthy TV podcast, where it was mentioned that Brolin is listed as “rumored” on the film’s IMDb page, so he must be in the movie, and the actor quipped back, “Am I? Yeeeesssss!
“I so wanted to be in that movie,” he laughed, suggesting that the secretive Marvel Studios never really tipped what the plan was or why he wasn’t part of the third film.
He went on to explain about the studio’s mysterious inner workings:
“[Marvel] is a more complex labyrinth than ‘Outer Range’ will ever be, my friend. And I will never know where that went or what that is or what I’m involved with or what I’m not involved with —the MCU being involved now. Cable was a lot of fun. I really liked doing that role. That was a lot of fun.”
Brolin, however, seemed to hold no ill will toward anyone involved, saying he’s a big fan of Jackman is seemingly excited about the film, despite missing out on the third installment.
“Hugh [Jackman], I’m absolutely in love with. I know Ryan [Reynolds] now, and I’ve met Hugh a couple of times, and I think when he did ‘Logan’—forget it! I mean, Scott Frank, who wrote it, is a good friend of mine and I just think the coming together of [these characters] is just fantastic. And Hugh, I don’t know how old Hugh is now—is he 56, 57? I mean, seriously, the dude doesn’t age. So, yeah. I’m a big fan of his.”
It might be hard to bring back Brolin as a different character in the MCU. However, he looks pretty different from Thanos. He’s not purple, and he has a normal chin, and if there were ever a movie to make the transition, it would totally be Deadpool!
The Merc With a Mouth could make a joke about it, and deflate the tension, and everyone could just move on. I guess we will just have to wait and see, as it’s totally possible that Brolin is in the movie, and he was just playing it cool.
Deadpool & Wolverine will hit theaters this summer, on July 26th.
