Hollywood A-list celebrity, Josh Brolin has captured the hearts of comic book fans this year, having played both Thanos and Cable in Avengers: Infinity War and Deadpool 2 respectively. However, some people seem to forget (and this is a good thing, no doubt) his role as Jonah Hex in the monumental disaster known as….you guessed it: Jonah Hex. However, Brolin’s roles as Thanos and Cable were close to not ever coming to fruition as his stint as Jonah Hex almost made him turn his back on the superhero genre.
Brolin’s experience with Jonah Hex nearly turned to actor away from doing another superhero film. He spoke to Screen Rant on this:
“We kind of dipped our fingers into Jonah Hex and that didn’t turn out so well. So I was like, you know, I had an intention for that movie and I didn’t reach it.”
Jonah Hex was released in 2010 and was both a critical and commercial failure. The film earned a 12% on Rotten Tomatoes and earned less than $11 million, against its $47 million budget at the box-office.
Just like anyone working on a film, Brolin had big hopes for Jonah Hex, many people did especially due to the Western setting and compelling characterization established in the comics. This sense of disappointment definitely took a toll on Brolin, probably causing him to shut down various superhero film related roles (just speculation though). Kevin Feige then shows up at his door (metaphorically, of course).
“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 Fiege 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.”
It’s great to see Brolin getting back on board and delivering two great super-villains in one year. Perhaps he’s found his footing, by taking on villainous roles. It’s hard to image Infinity War and Deadpool 2 without Brolin and its safe to say we can expect a lot more from him in other super-roles.
Source: Screen Rant
