Josh Brolin brought one of the most sympathetic and complex villains in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe to life on screen when he played Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. It seems Brolin could make lightning strike twice, as he’s teased fans with a potential role in James Gunn’s rebooted DC Universe. The DCU officially kicks off on the big screen with Superman (releasing in theaters on July 11). Gunn hasn’t announced who the DCU’s “big bad” will be yet, or if there will even be one. But, Brolin might have just revealed DC’s trump card.
Per @DCUHypeGuy on Twitter (currently X), Josh Brolin recently shared a piece of DC fan art on his Instagram story. The picture, drawn by renowned artist BossLogic, depicts one of the most powerful villains in all of DC Comics, Darkseid. The caption under the original post read, “The rumour whispers going around is that Josh Brolin is still in talks for something big in the DCU, Josh and DC have the biggest opportunity to do the funniest thing.” Brolin didn’t write anything when he shared the art to his story, but the fact that he shared such a post with that caption is confirmation enough for some DC fans that the No Country for Old Men star is in talks with DC to play the New God of Apokolips.

Related

Josh Brolin Had to Have an Intimacy Coordinator for His Scenes with an Ape

Josh Brolin and Peter Dinklage explain why an intimacy coordinator was needed between Brolin and an ape in their comedy Brothers.

In DC Comics lore, Darkseid is one of the strongest foes the Justice League has ever faced. Just as Thanos is obsessed with the Infinity Stones in Infinity War, Darkseid hunts the Mother Boxes in an attempt to solve the Anti-Life Equation, a mathematical formula that lets the person who solves it dominate the will of any sentient race. Like Thanos, Darkseid is a hulking mountain of muscle, but (get ready for Marvel fans to lose their minds), he’s much stronger than his Marvel counterpart. As well as being an expert fighter with immense strength and invulnerability, Darkseid also has Omega beams, lasers he shoots from his eyes that can bend and move to track targets. In fact, Thanos was actually directly inspired by Darkseid.
Will Darkseid Appear in the New DCU?

During an interview with Josh Horowitz for Happy Sad Confused, James Gunn confirmed that the new DC Universe will have a “big bad,” per se. However, the goal of new movies won’t be to build up to their arrival, like the early MCU did with Thanos. “These are interconnected stories, but people are always going to be [saying], ‘Who’s the big bad? Are there big bads for connected films?’ Yes,” he began. “But is this all about, ‘Hey, I’m telling this one story about this big bad?’ No.”

Related

MCU Star Reveals Why He’s Sick of Attending Cons

Josh “Thanos” Brolin would like to snap his fingers and eliminate some fans with annoying questions.

If Darkseid does appear in the new DCU, it will most likely be in a big team-up movie like Justice League, if and when that film actually happens. Although, considering Zack Snyder has already tried tackling Darkseid in the Snyder Cut of Justice League, there is the chance that Gunn will look to import a different big bad from the comics. Braniac, perhaps? Or, maybe even the Anti-Monitor? Time will tell, so watch this space.

Superman kicks off the new DCU on the big screen on July 11, 2025.