We've speculated for months on who would be playing Thanos, the overarching villain of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Would it be Vin Diesel? Benicio Del Toro? Kevin Feige said they had the actor cast, but that they weren't ready to reveal who it was just yet. Well, they might not be ready, but that doesn't matter because the word is out: Josh Brolin is your Thanos!

Latino Review is reporting that Brolin will at the very least voice Thanos in 'Guardians of the Galaxy' with an option to star in 'Avengers 2' or 'Avengers 3' as needed (UPDATE: Variety has since confirmed the report). And, needed he will be as the Marvel Cinematic Universe shapes up to tell the Infinity Gauntlet storyline teased in the 'Avengers' post-credits scene (where stunt actor Damion Poitier briefly played the Mad Titan).

It's an interesting choice and not one we immediately thought of when we thought of Thanos, but it works. Brolin certainly has the gravely voice to pull it off and looks really don't matter all that much considering he'll be performing in a grey pajama suit with white dots all over his face (considering that both Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper provided some level of motion-capture alongside the voicing of Groot and Rocket, we'll guess that Brolin also completed some mo-cap work for Thanos as well). Interestingly enough, Brolin was courted months ago to star as Batman in 'Batman vs. Superman' but ultimately passed on the role. Had he already signed on to Marvel's universe at that point?

While Thanos isn't the main villain in 'Guardians' - that honor goes to Ronan the Accuser, Nebula and Yondu - he is still very much the puppet master pulling the strings and will make multiple appearances throughout the film. We've also heard rumors that while Ultron is very much the focus of 'Avengers 2,' there will be some level of Thanos involvement in 'Age of Ultron' with all this leading up to his role as very much the lead villain in 'Avengers 3.'

'Guardians of the Galaxy' opens in theaters on August 1.

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