At 54, American actor Josh Brolin has a great career behind him. In recent years, he has mainly distinguished himself in the role of Thanos within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But he could also have shone in the competition, since he recently revealed that he almost played a superhero from the DC universe and worked alongside Zack Snyder.
From superhero to supervillain
Dune, The Goonies, No Country For Old Men… Josh Brolin is an actor who, after nearly 40 years of career, has a CV that would make more than one blush. Since 2018, his most notable roles have been those he performed in superhero films, since the bugger interpreted the character of Cable in Deadpool 2but also and mostly the exceptional Thanos ofAvengers: Infinity War and Endgame.
Roles of which he can be proud and which must, basically, act as a small revenge for him. He recently revealed in a podcast that six years ago, he was passed over when he tried to land the role of a famous masked, black-clad DC superhero. In the end, it was Ben Affleck who was chosen to interpret the Batman of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justicethe second movie in the DC Extended Universe in theaters, three years after Man of Steel.
The challenge of embodying Batman in the cinema
If the choice of Ben Affleck in the role of Batman divided the fans when it was announced, the actor has since managed to prove himself and will return elsewhere one last time in The Flash. But the character of Bruce Wayne could have been much different, older, if he had been played by Josh Brolinwho was apparently not very reassured at the idea of embarking on the adventure.
It was interesting for me. It was the decision [de Zack Snyder]it was not mine [de choisir Ben Affleck].This is something that could have failed or malfunctioned. I like these bets. I was like “am I the guy who’s gonna screw this up?”.
If he was therefore very interested in the character, Josh Brolin does not seem to particularly regret not having played him, aware of the difficulty of resuming such a cult role. He mentions in particular the case of George Clooney, who still hears about his poor performance and the failure that was Batman & Robin, yet released in 1997. But since the actor would have embodied an older version of the batman, he’s not completely ruling out wearing his mask on camera one day.
This was before Deadpool 2. It would have been a version [du personnage] older, hoarser, longing for a better world. Honestly, that would have been nice and maybe I will one day, when I’m 80.
While waiting to find out if Josh Brolin will indeed play Batman one day or another, we already know what the version of Michael Keaton, who will be back in The Flash in June 2023.
