Since the early 2000s, Josh Brolin has established himself as one of Hollywood's best leading stars. Since making his acting debut back in Richard Donner's The Goonies, the actor has taken on an impressive variety of roles, including iconic characters in major franchises. Best known for playing tough guys with a gruff exterior, he has earned the recognition he deserves through a slew of brilliant performances.

Josh Brolin's roles have ranged across genres, from science-fiction and comedy to Westerns and dramas. Having worked under legendary directors like the Coen Brothers, Richard Donner and Denis Villeneuve, his career stands out as one of the best — and most underrated — in Hollywood. While he often maintains the same stoic persona on screen, he has shown great range, even if fans prefer to see him in the role of tough guys.

10 Men In Black III Cast Brolin as a Young Agent K

The Men in Black trilogy follows an NYPD officer, J, who joins the titular agency, a group tasked with safeguarding Earth against alien threats. Partnered with a seasoned agent, K, J is exposed to a world of alien invasions, talking pugs and monstrous insects. In the third movie, J's world is turned upside down by the escape of an intergalactic criminal, Boris the Animal, who travels back in time to murder K. In order to set things right, the younger agent travels back in time to pursue the villain and prevent an alien attack.

Josh Brolin's role as a younger K was a perfect match for Tommy Lee Jones' older version of the agent. With the bulk of the story taking place in the 1960s, the film follows J as he convinces the young agent to assist him, with the pair clashing along the way. As they pursue Boris, they realize he plans on sabotaging the Apollo 11 mission, leading to a brilliant showdown with a heartbreaking moment for Brolin's K.

9 Only the Brave Highlights the Heroism of Firefighters

Only the Brave takes place in Arizona, where Eric Marsh (played by Brolin) leads a crew of firefighters tasked with responding to wildfires. However, in order to take on a sprawling fire, Marsh must get his team certified as Hotshots, a type of firefighter specially equipped to handle the most daring aspects of wildfires. When they qualify, the team forms the Granite Mountain Hotshots.

Only the Brave follows the true story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots as they respond to the infamous Yarnell Hill Fire, which was the single greatest loss of firefighters since 9/11. The film highlights the bravery of wildfire firefighters, with most of the team making the ultimate sacrifice to save lives, spotlighting the life of the group's surviving member.

8 Avengers: Infinity War Made Brolin Terrifying

In the MCU, Josh Brolin was cast as Marvel's biggest threat yet, taking on the role of the cosmic tyrant, Thanos. After years of post-credit teases and brief cameos, Thanos finally made his full debut in Avengers: Infinity War, beginning with a one-on-one fight with the Hulk that instantly established him as a force to be reckoned with. After defeating the green Avenger and killing Loki, he began his quest to acquire all the Infinity Stones, so he could fulfill his plan of culling half of all life in the universe.

Josh Brolin's casting as Thanos has since become arguably his single most iconic role, standing out as the most important supervillain of the 2010s. As the threat that loomed over the MCU since 2012's Avengers, his long-awaited appearance in Infinity War kicked off what would become one of the highest-grossing films in cinematic history in its direct sequel, Endgame.

7 The Goonies Marked Brolin's Impressive Debut

The Goonies begins when a crime family, the Fratellis, escapes from prison, leading to a police chase across the town of Astoria. At the same time, a group of local children, affectionately dubbed the Goonies, meet up at one of their homes, where they discover a treasure map that leads to the lost loot of pirate One-Eyed Willy. Facing foreclosure on their houses, the friends set off on a quest to find the jewels in the hopes of saving their family homes.

As far as acting debuts go, Josh Brolin had an impressive first film, working alongside legendary director Richard Donner on what would become a decade-defining cult classic. The Goonies has gone on to inspire similar modern films, like Super 8. In the film, Brolin plays the responsible teenager Brand, who accompanies his younger brother Mikey and his friends on their adventure.

6 Outer Range Combines Westerns and Mystery

Outer Range casts Josh Brolin in the role of Royal Abbott, a Wyoming rancher fighting to maintain control of his property. One day, he finds a mysterious black void on his land, which coincides with the arrival of a mysterious drifter, Autumn. At the same time, Abbott is forced to fend off the efforts of a competing family, the Tillersons, to take his land.

Outer Range merges the Neo-Western drama of Yellowstone with the enigmatic science fiction of The Twilight Zone, leaving audiences with a great mystery. Brolin's role as Royal Abbott rivals Kevin Costner's performance as John Dutton as a great ranching patriarch, and the actor's lead of a TV series is long overdue.

5 Deadpool 2 Is a Superhero Buddy Comedy

Deadpool follows Wade Wilson, a chatty mercenary who finds out he has cancer. In a desperate bid to prolong his life, he agrees to be subject to an experiment that forces mutations to manifest, turning him into a malformed mutant with regenerative abilities that make him practically invincible. In the second film, Deadpool gets sent to prison with a young and angry mutant boy, later revealed to have become a murderous supervillain in the future. Cable, a man from this future whose family is killed by Fire Fist, travels back in time to assassinate him and winds up teaming up with Deadpool along the way.

Deadpool 2 follows Wade as he assembles a team to try and fight Cable, only to form a buddy cop-style partnership with him in a bid to save Fire Fist and prevent him from becoming a villain. Cast in the role of fan-favorite antihero Cable, Josh Brolin made the film particularly memorable, perfectly capturing the character's hard-boiled, '90s-inspired persona.