Joss Whedon Helped Guardians of the Galaxy's James Gunn Cast Thanos

During the international press tour for Guardians of the Galaxy, filmmaker James Gunn told the press that Marvel's The Avengers director Joss Whedon was part of the casting process for Thanos, the villain widely expected to appear in Avengers 3.

First seen in a silent cameo appearance at the end of The Avengers, Thanos will play a larger role in Guardians of the Galaxy, with Gunn telling reporters at Comic Con last year that "he'll do more than just stand there and smile," a reference to Thanos's cameo at the end of The Avengers.

"Joss and I have been friends for a long time," Gunn said of his relationship with the man who's been called Marvel's Phase Two showrunner. "Joss read the script, gave me notes on the script....And then we had to work together to cast Thanos because Thanos is going to appear in stuff that I do as well as stuff that Joss does."

Ultimately, they ended up with Frank Miller's Sin City: A Dame to Kill For star Josh Brolin in the role, presumably providing just the voice, since his casting was announced late in post-production. In The Avengers, Thanos was depicted by Joss Whedon regular Damion Poitier.

You can see a clip of the comment from the Singapore press junket, via the Geek Crusade YouTube page, embedded below.

At the GotG press in Singapore on July 10, 2014, director James Gunn was asked how Guardians of the Galaxy fits into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Did his vision come secondary to that of Avengers director Joss Whedon's?