When it comes to "tough guy" actors, few can compare to Josh Brolin. The man has mastered the art of playing heroes and villains who are rough around the edges, but it seems that mentality can sometimes bleed into his personal life as well. In fact, this attitude even appears to have ruffled a few feathers with Avatar director James Cameron, as Brolin recently revealed that he really had no interest in getting involved with Avatar 2, and that refusal sparked a subsequent beef with the filmmaker. Brolin explained:
If I don't want to do Avatar, I'm not going to do Avatar. James Cameron's fucking calling me this name and that name. Whatever. If James Cameron came to me and said, 'Hey, man, why'd you say that?' I'd go, 'Because it happened.'
We admittedly don't know all of the details in this situation, but from what Josh Brolin is saying here, it appears that James Cameron did not appreciate the 49-year-old actor turning him down a role in Avatar 2. As a result of this refusal, Cameron has allegedly gone around bad-mouthing Brolin within film industry circles, and that bad-mouthing eventually got back to Brolin. I hesitate to use the word "feud," but these two Hollywood giants certainly don't seem to be on the friendliest of terms at the moment.
It's not like Josh Brolin has a scarcity of franchise work at his disposal. If anything, the guy could stand to lighten his load a bit. In addition to his work on smaller films like Hail, Caesar! and Everest, the Oscar-nominated actor also has several franchise projects currently in various stages of production; three of which come from the effects-heavy world of comic book movies. He may not get the chance to visit Pandora anytime soon, but Brolin is currently gearing up to portray The Mad Titan Thanos in The Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4, as well as Cable alongside Ryan Reynolds' Wade Wilson in Deadpool 2.
Although Josh Brolin recently revealed to Esquire that he wouldn't be taking part in the long-awaited Avatar sequels, that does not change the fact that there are still some lofty expectations for James Cameron's groundbreaking franchise. With four sequels slated to debut in theaters between 2020 and 2025, the task ahead of Cameron and his cast has to feel daunting. Both of these guys have massive franchises to work on, so a petty squabble is probably not in anybody's best interest at the moment.
As of right now, the first of James Cameron's four Avatar sequels is set to debut on December 18, 2020. As for Josh Brolin, you can catch him as Thanos when Avengers: Infinity War debuts in theaters on May 4, 2018, and then as Cable when Deadpool 2 premieres on June 1, 2018.
