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Josh Brolin has more geek movie experience than pretty much any other actor in Hollywood. Not only does he have major comic book characters on his resume, including Cable and Thanos, but also films like dune And Men in Black 3 in his CV. The guy is obviously no stranger to this culture… and yet it’s a tough experience for him when he goes to conventions and is asked unanswered questions.

Earlier this month, Brolin was a guest on The Graham Norton ShowPart of a panel with Cher, Michael Fassbender and Kiera Knightly, and there was a point in the episode where he and Fassbender started talking about attending comic book conventions (the latter, of course, was known for his role as Magneto in the series ). X Men films). While Brolin may be an intimidating presence on screen when playing villains like Thanos and tough guys like Gurney Halleck, he has no idea what to do when faced with questions from passionate fans:

Have you ever been to Comic-Con? That’s hard. They are fans. They are real fans, which is great. But then the fan comes and says very seriously, “Have you ever realized that I’m sorry to bother you, but have you ever realized that if you had the power to kill half the universe, you probably would.” would also have the power to create twice as many resources?’ Super smart! And then you say, “Go on!”

To be fair to Josh Brolin, he doesn’t write the material; He just plays it in front of the camera. In fact, this particular fan dispute can’t even be redirected Avengers: Infinity War/Avengers: Endgame Screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, as they were merely adapting the Thanos storyline from the comics that Jim Starlin had written in the early 1990s (although in this case Thanos was partly motivated to destroy half the universe due to his love of personifying death kill). ).

The story reminds me of Ben Affleck’s infamous comments to director Michael Bay on the set of the sci-fi blockbuster Armageddon. The actor (who would have “Oscar-winning screenwriter” on his resume in a few years) wondered aloud whether teaching astronauts to drill would be easier than teaching oil drillers to become astronauts. In Affleck’s words, Bay told him to “shut up.”

Taken at face value, I suspect that Thanos’ decision to wipe out half of life in the universe rather than double the number of resources is more a reflection of the character’s personality and his way of thinking about the way life works . Since life will continue to grow and expand throughout the cosmos, both steps are temporary solutions anyway. So it says something about the Mad Titan’s mindset that he thinks mass death is the better option. I would say that this idea could make an interesting sequence of What if…?but that show is coming to an end after Season 3, as new adventures are currently premiering daily for those with a Disney+ subscription.

There’s another lesson to be learned from this story: If you see Josh Brolin at a convention, maybe don’t make his day more stressful by asking questions that you’re just asking to feel smart. Just let him know his work is appreciated and move on!