Marvel’s What If? episode 2 features the surprising appearance of Thanos, the Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame villain who eradiated half of the universe in the MCU. However, in this interpretation of the character, Josh Brolin’s portrayal of the Mad Titan is much different than the one we’ve seen in the movies.
Is Josh Brolin Thanos’ voice actor in What If?
Josh Brolin returns as Thanos in What If? episode 2, once again portraying the villain as his voice actor in the new Marvel animated series. However, while Brolin reprises his role, this Thanos is not the one we’ve previously seen in the MCU.
Thanos is shown drinking with T’Challa’s Star-Lord and friends in a reimagined version of the events of the MCU, with What If? showing us an alternate reality where T’Challa was the one kidnapped by Yondu, not Peter Quill. Interestingly, this turn of events ultimately works out for the benefit of the universe, as T’Challa manages to convince Thanos out of using the Infinity Stones to wipe out half the universe with the dreaded “snap.”
As Thanos explains it, T’Challa managed to show Thanos that there was “more than one way to reallocate the universe’s resources,” and so the Infinity Stones weren’t necessary to his plans.
“Sometimes the best weapon in your arsenal is just a good argument,” T’Challa responds, while the others praise this different take on Star-Lord for his various accomplishments across the universe.
But Thanos’ change of heart doesn’t end there. He’s also shown to have a much closer relationship with his adopted daughter Nebula, although there are still inevitable issues between the pair given that he still kidnapped her from her family. However, it seems that he did not kidnap Gamora in this version of events, meaning that Nebula hasn’t been transformed into a machine.
It’s an interesting take on Thanos, with this version of T’Challa clearly being more beneficial for the universe than Peter Quill. With T’Challa’s ethos as part of the Guardians of the Galaxy being to steal from the rich in order to give the poor, his less selfish approach than Quill has had wide-reaching benefits across the universe.
Elsewhere in What If? episode 2, Drax was also a returning character – though wasn’t voiced by Batista. You can also check out what we know so far about the upcoming episode 3.
