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Josh Brolin has heard about Thanos potentially returning to the MCU, but is as confused as everyone else

Much like us, he only has theories.

Thanos in Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Image credit: Marvel Studios

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While promoting Dune: Part Two, Marvel veteran Josh Brolin has teased that Thanos might return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe beyond animation, but doesn't really know how or where.

Brolin, who plays the House Atreides warrior Gurney Halleck in Denis Villeneuve's two-parter sci-fi epic, shared with ComicBook.com what he's heard about Thanos potentially making a big-screen comeback: "You know, I hear kind of like through the grapevine, that they're gonna bring him back." This wouldn't be the first time a big-name actor assumes there's truth to certain online rumors, but he makes it sound like he's got his own sources.

Thanos' return kind of already happened in the animated What If...? series, where we saw alternate versions of the character, plus there was his off-screen death at the hands of the Illuminati in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. However, he hasn't had another appearance in the Sacred Timeline of the MCU, where he was erased out of existence alongside his armies by Tony Stark.

Of course, any kind of resurrection would cheapen the entirety of the Infinity Saga and Stark's sacrifice, but a likely option is getting a Titan-set flashback that involves him and Eros in a potential follow-up to 2021's Eternals. Brolin, however, sounds 100% clueless about where he might show up again: "And there's the What If...? series and that's a different kind of Thanos and all that. But I don't know in the Marvel world whether they're going to bring him back, but I didn't know that he was the most killed-off Marvel villain... You learn something new every day."

Indeed, Thanos kicks the bucket quite often, and even if his appearances are limited to the multiverse, we kind of don't want him to become a punching bag and recurring gag in the MCU whenever new power levels need to be made clear. That's why we'd only want to see him again in a flashback that expands on his and Titan's backstory.


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