Josh Brolin is currently portraying two iconic Marvel characters, however, the actor nearly didn’t want to return to the comic book genre following the failed Jonah Hex film.
While making the press rounds ahead of this Friday’s Deadpool 2 release, Brolin discussed the critically panned Jonah Hex, and how it nearly prevented him from wanting to tackle another comic book role. According to the actor, he wasn’t seeking to dip his toes back into the genre after Jonah Hex failed to achieve what Brolin had hoped for.
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Thankfully, a discussion with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, who came across as a fan rather than a producer to Brolin, managed to convince the actor to tackle the role of Thanos — and, seemingly in turn, the role of Cable in Fox’s Deadpool 2.
“I was like, I just don’t see that, you know, and I like doing these other types of movies and whatever that means, and we kind of dipped our fingers into Jonah Hex and that didn’t turn out so well,” Brolin said in an interview with Screen Rant. “So I kind of stayed away from that thing but you know, there’s something that happens when you have the opportunity, first when Kevin Feige is talking to you, and from a really like [as] a fan, you know, base point of view and he’s saying, ‘We thought of this great story and we always saw you doing it.’ And it’s not the compliments necessarily, but it’s like all the Avengers against you.”
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Warner Bros.’ 2010 adaption of Jonah Hex was a critical bomb, receiving a terrible 12-percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and earning just $10 million at the worldwide box office. The film, which co-starred Megan Fox and John Malkovich, faced plenty of problems leading up to its release; from losing both its original director and original score composer, and then seeing little to no promotion until two months before release. It wasn’t entirely surprising that the film was viewed as a mess.
This is an assessment Brolin has never shied away from. In fact, two years ago, he said he would do the film all over again if he could, because despite not liking how it turned out at all, he feels there’s still a “good movie in there.”
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Thankfully, Brolin opted to give the genre another chance. After starring in Avengers: Infinity War — which is nearing $2 billion at the worldwide box office — as the Mad Titan, the actor looks set to steal the show in Deadpool 2 this weekend. Even more impressive? Both films are expected to top the box office — Deadpool 2 in first, and Infinity War finally falling to second — giving Brolin the top two films at the box office. At least until Solo: A Star Wars Story hits next weekend.
In theaters Friday nationwide, director David Leitch’s Deadpool 2 stars Ryan Reynolds as the titular Deadpool, Morena Baccarin as Vanessa, T.J. Miller as Weasel, Leslie Uggams as Blind Al, Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Stefan Kapičić as Colossus, Zazie Beetz as Domino, Julian Dennison as Russell, and Josh Brolin as Cable.