Josh Brolin candidly reacted to his absence from the new Deadpool film.

The actor played Cable in Deadpool 2, but revealed earlier this year that he did not get the invite to return for the divisive latest instalment, which is categorically not a third film in the Deadpool franchise.

Instead, it’s a film shared by both Deadpool and Wolverine starring Welcome to Wrexham star Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, who has reprised his role of the grizzled mutant despite seemingly retiring him in 2017’s Logan.

Months before the film became one of the year’s biggest hits – after just days of release – Brolin was alerted to the fact that, while he was not attached to the project, his name appeared on its list of credits on IMDb.

When Bingeworthy asked him if this means he actually will be in the film, Brolin said: “Am I? Yes! I so wanted to be in that movie.”

Explaining his absence from the film, the actor, who was promoting the new season of his now-cancelled Prime Video series Outer Range, then said: “[Marvel] is a more complex labyrinth than Outer Range will ever be, my friend. And I will never know where that went or what that is or what I’m involved with or what I’m not involved with – the MCU being so involved now.

He added: “Cable was a lot of fun. I really liked doing that role. That was a lot of fun.”

Brolin previously played the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) villain Thanos. The new Deadpool film, titled Deadpool & Wolverine, is the first in the franchise to be released under the MCU umbrella – which is referred to several times in the film.

Director Shaun Levy described the film as a “two-hander” between the two characters, telling Screen Rant at CinemaCon last month: “It’s a different thing that’s very much Deadpool and Wolverine. It’s not trying to copycat anything from the first two movies. They were awesome, but this is a two-hander character adventure.”

The film has proved to be Marvel’s biggest hit in a while after lacklustre box office showings for Captain Marvel sequel The Marvels and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

Josh Brolin wanted to return as Cable in ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ (Fox)

It will also be Marvel’s only big screen release in 2024, but next year will be business as usual, with Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts set to be released alongside a reboot of Fantastic Four, which, in a divisive turn of events, will re-introduce Iron Man star Robet Downey Jr to the MCU albeit in a very different guise.

Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford will head up Captain America: Brave New World, while Thunderbolts will also star Ford alongside Florence Pugh.

Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and The Bear star Ebon Moss-Bachrach will play the Fantastic Four – and, at Comic-Con last month, fans were left hot under the collar by Pascal and Kirby’s off-screen chemistry.

The pair will play husband-and-wife duo Reed Richards and Sue Storm in the film.