Josh Brolin has more geek movie experience than pretty much any other actor in Hollywood. He not only has major comic book characters on his resume including Cable and Thanos, but he also has films like Dune and Men In Black 3 on his resume. The guy is clearly no stranger to the culture… and yet, he still finds it a tough experience when he goes to conventions and gets asked unanswerable questions.
Earlier this month, Brolin was a guest on The Graham Norton Show, included in a panel including Cher, Michael Fassbender and Kiera Knightly, and there was a point during the episode where he and Fassbender began talking about attending comic conventions (the latter, of course, well-known for playing Magneto in the X-Men movies). While Brolin may be an intimidating presence on screen playing villains like Thanos and tough guys like Gurney Halleck, he has no idea what to do when he is presented with questions from passionate fans:
Have you ever been to a Comic-Con? It’s difficult. They are fanatics. They’re genuine fans, which is great. But then the fan will come and say in all seriousness, “Have you ever learned? I’m sorry to bother you, but have you ever learned that if you had the strength to kill part of the universe, you also had the strength to create?” Double the resources? » Super smart! And then you say, “Next!
To be fair to Josh Brolin here: he doesn’t write the material; he just plays it in front of the camera. In fact, this specific challenge to fans can’t even be redirected to Avengers: Infinity War/Avengers: Endgame writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, as they were simply adapting the Thanos story from the comics written by Jim Starlin earlier. from the 1990s (although in this case Thanos was partly motivated to kill off part of the universe due to his love for the personification of Death).
The story reminds me of Ben Affleck’s famous comments to director Michael Bay on the set of the sci-fi movie Armageddon. The actor (who in a few years would have the name “Oscar-winning screenwriter” on his resume) wondered aloud if it would not be less difficult to teach astronauts to drill than to teach astronauts to drill oil. In Affleck’s words, Bay told him to “shut up. “
Taken literally, I suppose Thanos’ resolution to eliminate some life in the universe rather than doubling the amount of resources is more of a reflection of the character’s personality and his line of thinking about how life works. Because life will continue to grow and spread throughout the cosmos, either move is impermanence responses anyway, so it says a lot about the Mad Titan mentality that it believes mass death is the incredible option. I would say this concept could make for an engaging episode of What If. . . ?, however this series will come to an end after season 3, with new adventures lately airing daily for those with a Disney subscription.
There’s another takeaway one can get from this story too: if you see Josh Brolin at a convention, maybe don’t make his day more stressful by asking questions that you’re only asking to make yourself feel smart. Just let him know that his work is appreciated and move on!
Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he’s continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site’s resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.
Ridley Scott from Alien reveals the challenges of the original xenomorph: ‘I have to find a very tall and thin man. . . ‘
Wolf Man’s Rotten Tomatoes score is as strong as Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man, but its budget is still pretty ideal.
The Russo Brothers Remember Their Fight for Avengers: Endgame’s Big Door Scene, and I’m So Glad They Won That Battle
Cinemablend is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.