'Infinity War': Josh Brolin Channels Thanos to Read Donald Trump Tweets

Josh Brolin has played many amoral characters in his filmography, from Jonah Hex in Jonah Hex, to Cable in Deadpool 2, to his starring role in the Bush biopic W. But while on the promotional tour for Sicario: Day of the Solado, Brolin stopped by Colbert to read actual tweets from President Donald Trump — as his Mad Titan, Thanos, from Avengers: Infinity War.

On Tuesday evening, Brolin appeared as a guest for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Like Andy Serkis reprising Gollum before him, Brolin slipped back into his Thanos from the mega Marvel blockbuster Avengers: Infinity War, where the purple alien giant sought the power of the Infinity Stones to reduce the overpopulation of the universe.

By reading Trump’s actual tweets in his Thanos voice, it’s not hard to see the parallels between the two characters, who demonstrate equal amounts of stubbornness and hubris in their actions. In fact, during his visit, Brolin revealed that many people saw Trump in his Thanos.

“He is strong-willed,” Brolin conceded before adding, “That was kind of fun about the movie. [Audiences] felt sympathetic, but they had a multitude of reactions to him, and it wasn’t just, ‘He is the worst guy in the universe’ kind of thing. His intention, if you think about it, his intention was, there’s an overabundance of population and limited resources.”

When Colbert said that Thanos could have snapped his fingers to add more resources than, you know, kill everyone, Brolin agreed, but added that Thanos’ callousness made the difference.

“He didn’t think of it at that moment,” Brolin explained, “because he’s too callous. The manifestation is callous. If you look at Trump, yes there are border problems, every border has problems … but how it’s manifested, especially when you bring children into it, is extremely callous.”

It’s hard not to agree. At the moment, the Trump administration is facing public outcry for its new “zero tolerance” policy for migrants crossing into the US. Even though many seek asylum — which is in full compliance with immigration law — the administration has forcibly removed children from parents and detained them in “tent cities.” Since May, over 2,300 children have been separated from their parents crossing the US border.

Yesterday, Trump tweeted Secretary of DHS Kirstjen Nielsen did “a fabulous job” explaining why the administration is detaining migrant children from their parents. On Wednesday, Trump told reporters he would “sign something” that would either end or reshuffle the current policy.

Avengers: Infinity War is now in theaters.