Joe Russo Shares the Advice He Gave Josh Brolin That Unlocked His Thanos Performance

Returning Avengers co-director Joe Russo broke down the most important piece of advice he ever gave Josh Brolin. He even explained how it helped define Thanos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Speaking to CBR’s Sean O’Connell, Joe Russo opened up about working with Josh Brolin on the set of Avengers: Infinity War. He also revealed that the star’s original vision for Thanos didn’t line up with the version of the character audiences ended up seeing on the silver screen.

How Josh Brolin’s Thanos Evolved and Helped Define the MCU

Russo explained that Brolin first began shaping Thanos on a motion-capture stage, where the actor was able to experiment with the character while watching the performance take form in real time. “You talk about Brolin’s performance — he first came in, and we put him on a motion-capture stage to experiment with the character,” Russo recalled. “We had a big screen in there, and he was puppeting the body.”

That setup gave Brolin room to explore different versions of the character. One early choice, however, quickly made it clear that Thanos still needed a sharper direction.

“He started playing around with… I think he has told this story before, so I’m not talking out of school. But he started doing a British accent. And we said, ‘Come over here for a second. I think he’s more like a gangster than a high-minded ruler. He’s a brute.'”

That note appeared to immediately click for Brolin.

“He thought about it for about 30 seconds, and he went, ‘I got it,'” Russo continued. “Then he turned into Thanos. He started walking around, watching himself. He started moving. He’s got that voice, he started talking real slow, and then he started contemplating. I went, ‘There we go. He’s got the character.'”

Although Brolin appeared in both Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers: Age of Ultron in brief cameos, he wouldn’t make his full-fledged MCU debut as Thanos until 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War. The film marked the beginning of the end for the then-current era of the MCU, with Brolin’s Thanos wiping out half of all life in the universe and leaving the remaining Avengers to band together in Avengers: Endgame the following year to set things right.

Why Avengers: Infinity War Was the Most Important MCU Film, According to One Returning Star

Returning MCU star Robert Downey Jr. also recently spoke with CBR’s Sean O’Connell, explaining why he sees Avengers: Infinity War as the most important MCU film so far. For Downey, Infinity War represented the culmination of a tonal shift that began years earlier with the Russo brothers’ first Marvel Studios movie, balancing interpersonal drama, new heroes, and franchise spectacle.

“I felt like the Russos took us out of any previous superhero genre, and brought us into this new place, starting with [Captain America: The Winter Soldier],” Downey stated.

“[Captain America: Civil War] is like, ‘How do you do both?’ You’re introducing all these new characters, you’re pitting them against each other, and then, for the lighter tone, we have the introduction of Tom Holland,” Downey continued. “So, again, we have this (Tony and Pepper) scene at the beginning of [Avengers: Infinity War] – which I have to say, to me, I feel is the most important one we’ve done so far.”

As much as Avengers: Infinity War may have shaken up the status quo, it will be a mere blip compared to things to come in Avengers: Doomsday this December. The upcoming MCU crossover will finally introduce the concept of Multiversal Incursions, forcing the heroes of worlds like Earth-828 of The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Fox’s X-Men films to make their way to Earth-616, the “main” reality of the MCU proper, when their universes quite literally collide.

Avengers: Doomsday is currently slated to arrive in theaters on December 18, 2026.

Release Date: April 27, 2018
Runtime: 149 minutes
Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Writers: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely
Producers: Chris Castaldi, James Gunn, Jon Favreau, Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Stan Lee, Victoria Alonso, Alan Fine