Josh Brolin’s Thanos Returning In An Upcoming Marvel Movie?

Could Josh Brolin actually be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Thanos? He might be making an appearance in a new movie

By Doug Norrie | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

Josh brolin thanos

When we last left Josh Brolin as Thanos at the end of Avengers: Endgame, he’d had the Infinity Stones permanently removed from his grasp and had disintegrated with a single and deadly snap from Tony Stark. It was a fitting end for the power-hungry character who’d sought to complete his universe-murdering mission by any means necessary. But because we live in the world of comic book movies, we know the end doesn’t usually mean the actual end. Characters are always free to come back in some shape or form and that looks like it could be the case with Brolin’s Thanos who could appear in the upcoming Eternals. 

This latest rumor about Josh Brolin possibly returning is from some internet sleuthing around other Marvel properties. Murphy’s Multiverse found something interesting on Twitter where user @eternalsupdate had pieced together some merchandising pieces from the franchise that could point to Thanos returning in some respect with this new movie. Check out the post: 

This is from Marvel’s Avenger Statio, an immersive experience in Las Vegas, that is based on the storylines from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In this section, Thanos is described as “the last of his species, known throughout the universe as ‘The Eternals”. This is suspicious labeling of the character considering we know that Eternals is set to hit the screens coming soon and that the movie follows a timeline for the titular characters that happens after the events of Endgame. Could this just be a mistake in description or does it mean that Josh Brolin will, in fact, be returning?

We know that Eternals is going to tell the story of this group of gods who’ve come to Earth to help shape civilization while mostly sitting on the sidelines despite their immense power. The villains for the movie have mostly been revealed as being the Deviants, an offshoot group from the original, genetically engineered like the Eternals but with flaws. In the comics, they are the enemies of the group, and Thanos, while born on Titan as an Eternal does have the Deviant gene. The stories are overlapped with this movie group which could mean Josh Brolin making an appearance. 

josh brolin thanos

In the comics, Thanos is part of the same generational group of Eternals we see in this new movie which includes Richard Madden’s Ikaris, Gemma Chan’s Sersi, Salma Hayek’s Ajak, Brian Henry Tyree’s Phastos, and Angelina Jolie’s Thena. It would make sense, in some respect to at least have Josh Brolin as Thanos be a part of the story even if it just meant referencing the character in some way, even in a flashback. 

It will still be some time until we know if Josh Brolin is coming back to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Thanos in Eternals. The movie was originally planned for release in November of last year, but pandemic-related closings and shutdowns pushed back the timeline a year. Now, the release is set for November 2021. When it comes we could get one of the more stunning films the MCU has to offer with a totally new story about a group of the most powerful characters around. Thanos could fit right in as an enemy in some fashion.