Remember the purple skinned guy from the mid credits stinger of the Avengers? He’s one of the big bads of the Marvel Universe. He’s going to be in _Guardians of the Galaxy_ and likely at least appear in _Avengers: Age of Ultron_ and the entire nerd internet has basically assumed that he’ll be the big bad of _Avengers 3_. And now he’s been cast.

The story broke at [Latino Review](http://www.latino-review.com/news/exclusive-josh-brolin-to-play-thanos-in-guardians-of-the-galaxy) and then [Variety confirmed](http://variety.com/2014/film/news/josh-brolin-to-play-thanos-in-marvels-guardians-of-the-galaxy-1201198891/):

> Josh Brolin has been tapped to play the villainous Thanos in Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy,” sources confirm to Variety.

> Thanos, who first appeared in the post-credits scene in “The Avengers,” is a major villain in the Marvel universe and is also expected to appear in one, if not both, of the upcoming “Avengers” sequels.

> “We’re definitely tied to ‘Avengers 3,’” director James Gunn recently said of the upcoming “Guardians of the Galaxy,” which hits theaters Aug. 1.

It only makes sense that Thanos will be the big bad of Avengers 3. We know that the Infinity Stones exist and we know The Collector is after them, and once They are all together Thanos is the one who assembles them into the Infinity Gauntlet and, you know, tries to destroy the universe to impress the woman he’s in love with (who happens to be the physical embodiment of Death). Yeah, Marvel Comics are a bit weird and I, for one, can’t wait to see some of the weirder stuff make it into theatres.

Since _Guardians of the Galaxy_ is almost in theatres it seems that Brolin might only do voice for it, however there’s no word on whether he’ll be doing mo-cap for any future appearances.