It's not uncommon nowadays for an actor to have played more than one comic book character, but Josh Brolin stands out from that particular group because he's pulling double comic book movie duty this year. In less than two months, we'll finally see his iteration of Thanos snag the spotlight in Avengers: Infinity War, and three weeks later, he'll debut as Cable in Deadpool 2. While the two movies aren't connected in any way outside of both being based on Marvel properties, the satirical nature of the Deadpool movies means that the upcoming sequel certainly has room to poke fun at Josh Brolin playing Thanos, and the actor believes that's just what will happen. When asked if any jokes about the Mad Titan were slipped into the dialogue, Brolin responded:
I can't imagine there's not going to be any. [Laughs] I'll put it that way. I'm up here right now in snowy Vancouver doing reshoots for Deadpool. Given that it's a satire of all superhero movies, especially Marvel movies, how can you not?
With any other non-MCU Marvel movie, it'd be practically impossible to reference Josh Brolin's work as Thanos in the MCU, but this is Deadpool we're talking about. The Merc with the Mouth has a habit of breaking the fourth wall, and while he won't be crossing paths with Thanos in Deadpool 2, there's nothing stopping him from cracking a few jokes about the purple alien warlord to Cable, even if the cybernetically-enhanced mutant has no idea what he's talking about. It wouldn't be the first time that Ryan Reynolds' Wade Wilson has referred to another superhero movie. In the first Deadpool movie, he requested that his super-suit not be green or animated (Green Lantern), and in the Ferris Bueller-inspired post-credits scene, he asked the audience if they expected Samuel L. Jackson to show up with an eyepatch and a "saucy little leather number."
Josh Brolin didn't spill the beans to EW on just how Deadpool 2 will poke fun at the actor's tenure as Thanos, but the sequel's most recent trailer got in two good digs relating to the Mad Titan. After noticing that the CGI for Cable's arm wasn't complete, Deadpool declared, "Fuck it, I'll do it myself," echoing the same, non-obscene sentiment that Thanos expressed at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron. Then, when acting out a fight between himself and Cable using action figures, Deadpool said he "had the stones" to help his adversary, subtly referring to the Infinity Stones that Thanos desperately desires. However, both those jokes could easily go over heads, so however Deadpool 2 chooses to make fun of Brolin's Thanos, hopefully we'll instantly know when that's happening.
Deadpool 2 opens in theaters on May 18, while Avengers: Infinity War is now scheduled for release on April 27.
