Josh Brolin Decided To Play Thanos After Seeing Benedict Cumberbatch In The Hobbit

It looks like Benedict Cumberbatch's fiery role in The Hobbit was one of the main reasons why Josh Brolin decided to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe and play Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War.

Speaking in an interview with SiriusXM about his experience playing comic book characters for 20^th Century Fox and For Marvel, Brolin says that while researching about his Marvel character Thanos, he came across a video of Benedict Cumberbatch playing out a scene for his Dragon character Smaug in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit.

It was that video of Cumberbatch's dedication that convinced Brolin that playing a motion-capture character would work out and in the end, Brolin decided to play the role for Infinity War.

"...I saw Benedict Cumberbatch do I think it was for The Hobbit. And I looked on YouTube, when I was deciding whether I wanted to do it or not, and he was in this mo-cap suit on and he was in this big warehouse, and he's crawling around like a snake, snapping his tongue out and doing this incredible performance...I saw that and was like, all right, that's the bar -- this is not bulls**t; this is something you have to sink your teeth into: conviction, embarrassment, all that kind of stuff. Then, I decided, yeah."

Benedict did pretty great as Smaug in The Hobbit trilogy, so it's no surprise that the video of the British actor convinced Brolin to play Thanos for Marvel.

Brolin first voiced the character when he made the debut as Marvel's Mad Titan in James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy back in 2014, two years after The Hobbit was released. Though he didn't get that many scenes in the film, Brolin returned to the role in Avengers: Infinity War and wowed fans with his exceptional performance.

Though we're not quite sure whether Brolin will continue playing Thanos after Avengers 4, we're pretty sure that the Marvel star is going to deliver an impressive performance in the Infinity War sequel.

Avengers: Infinity is currently screening in cinemas.

Read: New Leaked Plot Details For Avengers 4 Reveal How The Avengers Beat Thanos