An actor is lucky if he or she gets to experience one big resurgence in his or her career, but to get two big boosts is extremely rare. Josh Brolin obviously gained renewed prominence for his terrific starring turn in Best Picture-winner No Country for Old Men, after which he got to show off his dramatic chops in films like W. and Milk. But now Brolin is venturing into a very different kind of movie territory: the superhero genre. The actor plays the Marvel Cinematic Universe Big Bad Thanos in the upcoming Avengers sequels, but he also landed the coveted role of Cable in 20th Century Fox’s superhero sequel Deadpool 2, which paves the way for Brolin’s Cable to lead the in-development X-Force movie to be written and directed by Drew Goddard (The Cabin in the Woods).

Collider’s own Steve Weintraub recently spoke with Brolin in anticipation of the film Only the Brave, which hits theaters this Friday, and with Brolin recently wrapping his work on Deadpool 2, Steve asked about his experience on that film. We’ve seen in social media snaps that Brolin got into fighting shape for the role, and he admits that director David Leitch (who co-directed John Wick) put him through the ringer:

“[David] embraces what he's very good at, which I think is very smart. There's ton of action in it. The tease is, a guy who's 49 years old on the cusp of 50 who got in the best shape of his life, especially exteriorly, and I was extremely disciplined throughout that whole thing. I got beat to shit on that movie. That's all I know. I had stuntmen throwing me all over the place. I've got a shoulder issue, I've got a knee issue that I've got to deal with now, but we got through it. We got through it. I pushed hard and I suffered because of it.”

josh-brolin-deadpool-2-cable
Image via 20th Century Fox

Comics fans know that Cable’s origin story is convoluted to say the least, and while Brolin didn’t want to reveal specifics about whether Deadpool 2 will canonize how Cable became Cable, he did stress that his role in the sequel is very much the beginning:

“I'm not going to tell you how much I'm in the film, but it's his introduction, and I think his introduction, even in the small promos and teasers that David has shown me, I think it's a proper reveal. I think we're not trying to hide the fact that this is the beginning of Cable and absolutely not the end. I think when you're sensitive about how you reveal this character there's a sense of mystery in it, so then when we finally get into X-Force, you're going to be with this guy full blown all the time. There's a lot to be revealed. There's a lot to be revealed, but there's three more movies to reveal more.”

Brolin didn’t elaborate on what he seems to suggest is a four-picture contract he signed with Fox, which would include Deadpool 2, X-Force, and two other unknown Fox Marvel films, but he definitely sounds enthused to be inhabiting this character. As for when X-Force gets going, Brolin says it may shoot in 2018 or early 2019, but it’s still a bit up in the air:

“I think [X-Force films] sometime next year or soon thereafter. It depends. It all depends. It depends on how Deadpool 2 does, but I don't think that's a make or break kind of deal. Drew Goddard is already involved in it. He's into it now. I know he and Ryan were meeting. I've met him once, and so this is all kind of going ahead. How it goes ahead, I know that they're preparing, and I know that it's something that I'm set to do. When it happens they're going to put it as fast as they can. I think Drew Goddard is doing his movie right now and then once he's kind of wrapped up with that and this movie comes out I think we'll be ready to start the other one.”

Indeed, Goddard is currently in production on his long-awaited second directorial effort Bad Times at El Royale, but as Brolin says once that film is complete sometime next year, he’ll likely move into X-Force. Which means, as Brolin says, it’s possible X-Force doesn’t start production until late 2018 or early 2019, given that Goddard is going to need ample time to prep for that.

Look for more from Brolin on Collider tomorrow, and if you missed what he had to say about the Sicario sequel Soldadoclick here.

x-force-movie-josh-brolin
Image via Paramount Pictures
zazie-beetz-joker-movie
Image via 20th Century Fox