Josh Brolin revels in being the uber villain of the moment

Josh Brolin is in the enviable position right now of being the uber-villain in two back-to-back hit superhero movies.

Fans know the 50-year-old US actor as planet-destroying despot Thanos from Avengers: Infinity War, but he's also playing time-travelling cybernetic soldier Cable in Deadpool 2, both of which are showing here.

Cable was introduced to Marvel Comics fans in 1986 as the son of X-Men member Cyclops and Jean Grey's clone. He was separated from his parents and sent into the future to be cured of a mutant virus.

Brolin, however, is not much of a comic book geek, and was surprised when Deadpool 2's star-producer Ryan Reynolds offered him the role of the antagonist, who is out to kill a mutant boy Deadpool and his X-Force team are protecting.

The former child star said at the Four Seasons hotel in Beverly Hills: "I was like the one guy on Earth who was like, 'Who's Cable? Is he cool?' I had no idea. I was in the middle of doing Avengers and I was tired.

"They came to me and they said, 'Hey, there's somebody that may have dropped out, and do you want to do this?' And I said, 'Ryan Reynolds from (the 2009 rom-com) The Proposal?'

"And it didn't really resonate, and I started complaining how I don't want to do another superhero movie. And then my wife said, 'Why don't you shut up and read it?' And I read it and I laughed for two hours. I felt like it was a full regression, like I was six years old again and that I had missed out on this whole childhood that I deserved."

It also helps that Brolin "really loves" his co-star Reynolds.

"We do this Instagram thing and I try to make it fun. Right when we started, I came up with a hashtag that said Ryan Reynolds is my b****, which he didn't like so much. (Laughs.) So that rivalry is fun and I have a good time with that.

I didn’t get it. Veteran actor James Brolin’s response after watching Avengers: Infinity War, according to his son Josh

"But he is really something. I am getting to know him a lot better and I really, really enjoy his company. He is a humble guy and he is very smart, and unfortunately, he is Canadian, but I don't have to deal with that," he joked.

What are your thoughts on this point in your thriving career where you have two major roles in blockbusters?

I am really grateful. After Avengers came out the weekend before, it was the Sunday that it was breaking those records. I remember I told myself, 'It's okay to enjoy this'.

Because I get a little afraid when there is one role that people see, especially on this global level, that you seem to get stuck in a thing, and I have a deep, deep fear of that. So beyond that, I feel extremely fortunate.

You are also going to be in the upcoming X-Force movie?

Yeah. I know a general outline of it. I have never signed on for multiple movies. I have been in that position and I have said no in the past. This one, yes, because of my respect for Ryan and my love for this irreverent satirical tone. He said (Deadpool 2) is more of an introduction for Cable, and then we will get into X-Force where he is the leader of X-Force.

Can you talk about the stunts?

I have massive respect for stunt people and I have done a lot of my own stunts my whole life. My stunt doubles are dear friends of mine. I got into acting to get into stunts. It was always my first love. I am 50 years old and I did a lot of my own fighting and I still feel it and it's been months. I am still suffering the consequences of some of that, but it's been fine.

Has the filming on the next Avengers movie finished? Do you know the new title?

They don't tell us s***, man. I didn't even know what the movie was about when I saw the movie. And that is the truth. There were things that I was watching that I didn't know. (Laughs.)

And I don't know how much of this is true or not, but I was told that we were being given fake scripts. The only thing I know is when I sat down with the film-makers, they went through the entire two movies. I was so stunned by the trajectory of the story and very moved by it, actually. And so I don't know what the next one is called and I don't know what additional shooting has to be done or if it's reshoots.

What were some of the things that surprised you on screen?

The fact that everybody was dissolving because of me. (Laughs.) That was a new one, didn't know that one. That started to happen, and I am sitting at the premiere with thousands of people that suddenly I feel hate me."

How did your father, veteran actor James Brolin, like Infinity War?

I loved my dad's response, which was, 'I didn't get it'. So that put me on a real humble level and I can't get too narcissistic around him, which is a good thing.