Josh Brolin talks Infinity War, Deadpool 2, Sicario sequel Soldado & his busy upcoming schedule.
With the upcoming release of firefighting action/drama Only the Brave soon to hit cinemas, Josh Brolin is a busy man with a slew of upcoming projects. Whilst most Hollywood actors would consider themselves lucky to land a starring role in a major movie franchise, Brolin has managed to do it twice in quick succession. Whilst Chris Evans has played two superhero roles, firstly as Johnny Storm in 2005’s Fantastic Four and its 2007 sequel, he had to wait until 2011 before he took on the role of Captain America.
In 2018 audiences will find Brolin starring in both Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Infinity War as main villain Thanos and then see him quickly switch over to take on the role of the time-travelling Cable in Fox’s Deadpool sequel. Whilst it’s currently unknown if we’ll see Thanos in any future Marvel Studios productions, it appears that Brolin has signed a multi-film deal with Fox to reprise the role of Cable and the actor recently spoke to Collider about his part in the upcoming Deadpool 2 as well as its proposed spin-off X-Force;
“I’m not going to tell you how much I’m in the film, but it’s his introduction, and I think his introduction, even in the small promos and teasers that David (director David Leitch) has shown me, I think it’s a proper reveal. I think we’re not trying to hide the fact that this is the beginning of Cable and absolutely not the end. I think when you’re sensitive about how you reveal this character there’s a sense of mystery in it, so then when we finally get into X-Force, you’re going to be with this guy full blown all the time. There’s a lot to be revealed, but there’s three more movies to reveal more.”
So with at least three more movies planned, Brolin appears to have his work cut out. The actor seemed to relish the challenge of getting into shape for the role of Cable and would frequently post videos of his training regimen on social media, but he did admit that filming the part took its toll;
“There’s a ton of action in it. The tease is, a guy who’s 49 years old on the cusp of 50 who got in the best shape of his life, especially exteriorly, and I was extremely disciplined throughout that whole thing. I got beat to shit on that movie. That’s all I know. I had stuntmen throwing me all over the place. I’ve got a shoulder issue, I’ve got a knee issue that I’ve got to deal with now, but we got through it. We got through it. I pushed hard and I suffered because of it.”
Whilst there is no official start date for the filming of X-Force the actor was optimistic that it may start in 2018 or possibly early 2019;
“I think [X-Force films] sometime next year or soon thereafter. It depends. It all depends. It depends on how Deadpool 2 does, but I don’t think that’s a make or break kind of deal. Drew Goddard is already involved in it. He’s into it now. I know he and Ryan were meeting. I’ve met him once, and so this is all kind of going ahead. How it goes ahead, I know that they’re preparing, and I know that it’s something that I’m set to do. When it happens they’re going to put it as fast as they can. I think Drew Goddard is doing his movie right now and then once he’s kind of wrapped up with that and this movie comes out I think we’ll be ready to start the other one.”
Whilst Goddard is indeed still tied up with production of his latest work in the form his second directorial role, Bad Times at El Royale, it would appear that he may jump into X-Force immediately afterwards.
It’s not all comic based movies for Brolin in the future however as it was recently announced that he will be returning to the role of tough FBI agent Matt Graver in the sequel to 2015’s Sicario titled Soldado. Denis Villeneuve may have moved on to films like Arrival and Blade Runner 2049, but in his place Stefano Sollima (Gomorrah) has stepped in to direct, with Tyler Sheridan (Hell and High Water, Wind River) penning the script for the second film. Brolin had this to say about Soldado;
“When I saw [Sicario], I said, ‘This is a really fucking good movie.’ When I finished the movie, I thought it was going to be OK. I had seen Denis’ movies. I knew he was a great director, but not everybody’s perfect and not everybody can put a good movie together no matter what their intentions are, but when I saw Sicario I didn’t know what happened. I was like, ‘I know we accomplished a good movie, but why don’t I remember this?’ I kind of felt the same way [with Soldado], and maybe that all stems from Taylor Sheridan’s writing and the fact that you can only fuck up his scripts to a certain extent, but it’s still going to be a good movie because maybe it does all start with the script. When you have an OK script you’re constantly manipulating it to make it sound decent, is one thing. When you have a great script and you’re just trying to do justice to it, maybe that’s something else, and I think that’s what we experienced with him.”
Whilst Sicario may not have seemed like a movie likely to end up getting a sequel, Brolin stated that the second film does have a development factor for the returning characters’ story arc;
“I think it’s just more severe, man. All the way around. I think the characters are more severe. I think the movie is more severe. I think it’s just much bigger. It’s just a bigger scope film. Like I said, when I saw it it was like Sicario felt like a small movie to me, even though it was a very intimate movie. I’ve always said I don’t understand why bigger movies can’t be just as intimate, if not more intimate. Why do they have to be less emotional? I think Soldado‘s a perfect example of that. I think it’s extremely emotional. I think it’s extremely tense and it deals with similar subject matters.”
Marvel Studios’s Avengers: Infinity War is set for release May 4th, 2018, Fox’s Deadpool 2 is expected June 1st, 2018 and Sony Pictures has Soldado currently set for release June 29th, 2018.