You might remember him from roles such as the older brother from the Goonies, a former president, a desperate cowboy, head of the CIA’s special ops, young Agent K, or even a detective to name only a few. Well don’t look now but Josh Brolin is Having a Heat Check Moment.

Although he only appeared in only one film in 2017, Only The Brave (which might I add was a solid lazy Friday night cable must see) is having a heat check moment!

Avengers Infinity War

(Avengers Spoilers Incoming)

Brolin’s first performance of the year came as the highly anticipated Marvel villain, Thanos in Avengers Infinity War. Although he might’ve been hard to recognize under his purple, weird wrinkly, chin-CGI’ed head. The performance was really tied together under his menacing voice. Not to mention the way he tore through the Avengers like John Wick in a night club surrounded by bad guys, really made the stakes high for what felt like the first time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Avengers Infinity War smashed box office records such as biggest worldwide opening weekend at $257.69 million, fastest movie to a billion (11 days), and highest grossing superhero movie, just to name a few.

Thanos was the MVP of the movie and as the credits reminded us “Thanos Will Return”.

Side note: Can we call Josh Brolin, Bronos? How sick of a nickname is that? If I were him I would legally change my name tomorrow.

Deadpool 2

Moving on, you only had to wait three weeks to see Brolin in his next big role, another Marvel villain, Cable, in Deadpool 2! What a boss move? He played two Marvel villains from movies that hit the big screen only three weeks apart (Avengers Infinity War – 4/27/18, Deadpool 2 – 5/18/18). Deadpool 2 did just fine in the wake of the Avengers success as it racked in over $750 million and became the 3rd grossing rated R movie behind the first Deadpool and The Matrix. Brolin had a great performance as Cable in a movie that doesn’t take itself serious. Brolin will also return as Cable as part of the X-Force in the next Deadpool.

Notice anything similar about both superhero movies? Brolin doesn’t die and will return to both franchises moving forward!! At this point, Brolin is just stat-padding.

Sicario: Day of the Soldado

Brolin’s next performance of ’18: Sicario: Day of the Soldado. Not the sequel we the people deserved but it’s definitely the sequel we needed as it is currently sitting at a 63% on Rotten Tomatoes. What demands my attention more than a shoot ‘em up? A sequel to a shoot ‘em up. Brolin returns as Matt Graver member of the special ops rejoins his running mate Alejandro played by Benicio Del Toro. Brolin took a break from his villain role to portray a protagonist who can share the lime light like Shaq in Kobe at the beginning of this century. Brolin doesn’t need the entire limelight to show us what he’s got.

The Legacy of a Whitetail Deer Hunter

Finally, Brolin is set to star in a comedy, The Legacy of a Whitetail Deer Hunter, coming to Netflix on July 6th. Maybe I’m a little too hyped for this film but since it’s a Netflix Original my justification goes from “well maybe I should give this Netflix original a try since I’m paying for Netflix (even though most of them have been Sci-Fi’s or Teenaged themed Rom Coms)” to “Wow! A comedy with Brolin and Danny McBride sharing the same screen, I’m in!). I didn’t even mention Scoot McNairy, an underrated wingman is in this movie as well. I’m all in on this movie.

Conclusion

In several weeks we will have seen Josh Brolin AKA Bronos, play two villains in Marvel’s summer blockbusters, returning as the protagonist Matt Graver in the Sicario sequel, and lastly a Netflix Original comedy as a hunter trying to reconnect with his son. I’ve always enjoyed Bronos’s body of work, but it’s safe to say at age 50, Brolin is showing us he can still have a heat check moment.

All box office statistics came from boxofficemojo.com.