There’s no question that Thanos (Josh Brolin) is one of the best villains Marvel has delivered to date. I wish we had more of him in the Infinity Saga before Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. While the character might have died in the latter, it’s not necessarily the end for Thanos. We’re currently in the Multiverse Saga, where anything is possible.
We’ve seen rumors over the years saying that Thanos might be back for Avengers: Secret Wars despite his demise in Endgame. They made as much sense as those predicting Iron Man’s (Robert Downey Jr.) return to the MCU despite his heroic death.
Even without rumors, we’re in the Multiverse Saga, where no character stays dead for too long. We don’t need spoilers to consider the possibility of Marvel bringing back all sorts of superheroes in the Saga’s finale.
Fast-forward to late 2024, and we know RDJ is coming back. But he’ll be playing the major villain of the upcoming Avengers movies, Doctor Doom. With that in mind, we need Thanos to return to the MCU in Secret Wars only so we can potentially get a rematch for the ages.
Interestingly, Josh Brolin is open to the idea of returning to the role. In a recent interview, he said he’d do anything the Russos asked of him. Mind you, some spoilers might follow below.
Like other actors asked about their return to the MCU, Brolin did not give a simple answer when talking to Collider at New York Comic Con. He acknowledged things would have to be done right to make sense for the story, the character, and the actor.
But that’s when he also admitted he’d do anything for the Russos, who are directing both upcoming Avengers movies:
I’m not kidding — There’s a thing with playing Thanos. It’s like, ‘Oh, they’re gonna bring Thanos back.’ It’s like Sicario; it has to be right. It’s like Ryan Reynolds and I talking about Taylor Swift and we should be talking about Deadpool 4 . But we go back and forth. Again, it’s what in his mind fits, what in my mind fits. Thanos has to fit if you’re going to bring him back. I would do anything that the Russos wanted me to do.
When asked whether he’d been contacted about reprising his Thanos role, Brolin declined to answer. But he reportedly coughed.
I’ll also point out the obvious here. The Multiverse Saga could also make the return of Brolin’s Cable possible. That Deadpool 4 remark certainly teases that possibility. But Thanos is easily Brolin’s most exciting Marvel role so far.
What would Thanos even do in Secret Wars?
As the MCU has proved so far, we don’t need the original characters to stay alive to have continuity in character development and good stories.
The original Thanos died early in Endgame. The massive fight at the end featured a Thanos variant from the multiverse — one who invaded the primary reality. That Thanos also died, or did he?
Loki (Tom Hiddleston) died in Infinity War, but the variant we received in the Loki TV show became an even better character and a completely different one. The Gamora (Zoe Saldana) alternative from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is also completely different than the original.
Then there’s the darker Logan (Hugh Jackman) from Deadpool & Wolverine. It’s not the heroic Wolverine from Fox’s X-Men movies, but he’s getting there.
Back to Thanos, we already saw versions of him elsewhere in the Multiverse Saga, thanks to the What If…? TV show. The point is that Marvel has much room to maneuver here, and we could always get a Thanos in Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars.
It wouldn’t change what happened to Thanos in the previous Saga because we’d probably get a different version. That’s what I’d like to see in Secret Wars. A version of Thanos that helps the Avengers against an even bigger threat: Doctor Doom. This would give us a big rematch between similar-looking characters.
Collider points out that Thanos challenges Doom in the 2015 Marvel Comics storyline that inspired Secret Wars. If Doctor Doom is the big villain of Doomsday and Secret Wars, Thanos would inevitably have to work with the Avengers against Doom.
It wouldn’t be Iron Man vs. Thanos again, though I’m secretly hoping RDJ’s Doctor Doom is actually a misguided Tony Stark version from the multiverse. But it would still be interesting to see RDJ and Josh Brolin play antagonists once again in the same MCU movie.