May 30, 2014 by Paul Curtin
In what could be considered a move to help get some heat off of the recent breakup between Marvel and their Ant-Man director, Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim), it’s been reported by Latino Review and confirmed by Variety that Josh Brolin has been cast as Thanos in The Avengers franchise.
Thanos, of course, is the big bad purple villain who was teased after the credits began rolling during 2012’s box office smash hit, The Avengers. Many had hoped that it would be Hellboy himself, Ron Perlman, who would switch from red to purple for the role, but getting Brolin is just as good… if not even better. This also makes sense out of Brolin’s decision to turn down the role of Batman which many were upset over after he didn’t take the offer that then went to Ben Affleck.
Brolin will likely show up or be teased in some fashion during next summer’s Avengers: Age of Ultron since Thanos will be an even bigger villain coming after Ultron. Here’s a direct quote from Avengers‘ director, Joss Whedon, on Thanos:
Well, Thanos is more powerful. He is so powerful; he is not someone you can just trot out and punch him. Like he did in the comics, you want him threading through the universe and to save the big finale for the big finale. He is definitely a part of what I have got going on. The thing about The Avengers is that they are very powerful but not very stable. So, there will definitely be some people that will shake them up in the next installment.
