Thanos finally meets Ronan in real life! Josh Brolin, Lee Pace join Zoe Saldana at Ace Comic Con

Avengers: Endgame saw the heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe take on the threat of Thanos with the fate of half the universe at stake. While the Mad Titan became the Avengers' ultimate foe, it was another team that introduced us to him. In 2014, Guardians of the Galaxy hit screens and took the world by storm. We not only saw the debut of the wielder of the Infinity Gauntlet but also the fanatical Kree Ronan the Accuser and the most dangerous woman in the galaxy, Gamora.

The stars who portrayed these cosmic characters — Josh Brolin, Lee Pace, and Zoe Saldana — swung by Ace Comic Con this past Sunday for "The Galaxy Is Calling" panel, where they talked about their experience as part of the MCU.

Like the MCU panel the day before — featuring Chris Evans, Don Cheadle, and Jeremy Renner — Angelique Roche served as panel moderator. To celebrate the re-release of Avengers: Endgame, the group started with their reactions to the Infinity Saga's culmination.

"I actually didn't know what was going to happen," said Pace. "How many times do you have that experience when you go to the movies? Movies, there's a rhythm to them, predictability to them, but with that movie, you don't know what was going to happen."

For Saldana, it was bittersweet. "I've been such a fan of Avengers, and when I finally got to be a part of them, it was ending. I felt very grateful that everybody received it so positively. I love how the Russo brothers gave us an end to the whole Avengers saga. I do miss Iron Man," she chuckled.

For the person who was the main focus of Endgame, Brolin didn't know a whole lot about the film's story while production was underway. "When I was watching Infinity War and people starting disappearing, I didn't know what was happening. I turned to [Chris] Hemsworth, and he went like [finger to throat motion]. So that means 'The world is going to hate you,' and that makes me very, very happy."

"There's so much fit into Endgame," he continued. "We were there with a lot of fans at the premiere, and it was exciting to experience it with them organically."

These three actors played characters who have traveled all through time and space. Because of this, they may not have shared as much screen time with the MCU's other actors — it's a lot of green screen and marks. And although all three starred in Guardians of the Galaxy together, Brolin had met Pace for the first time the previous day, while Saldana and Pace never saw each other out of makeup until the movie's premiere.

Roche asked what the process was like getting into character, and Saldana and Brolin both had the same take on letting their imagination run wild.

"I just allowed the little girl in me to just play," she said. "When you come from humble means, all you have is your imagination, and that's all you need.

"It was like a Lower East Side black box theater," Brolin added. "It's total imagination. You're acting in a onesie. It's like being a kid again reading Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov. You imagine those worlds in your head, and it was like reliving that all over again."

The discussion moved on to some of their other roles. When asked which character Lee would play for the next 10 years if he could, he namechecked Ned from Pushing Daisies. "It was such a great time in my life when I was shooting that, I would love to go back to it." (So do we. So do we.)

Saldana also doubled down on her passion for genre films. "I live in space," she said. "When I was younger, all I saw in movies were damsels in distress. I didn't see any superheroes like me, so I became my own superhero. I saw there was an imbalance, and that's why I started doing these films."

The panel closed out with a Q&A from the fans — some fun bits and bobs:

• Pace's favorite superhero is the Silver Surfer, Saldana's is Mighty Mouse, and Brolin likes both the Surfer and Wonder Woman.
• Saldana would be Hufflepuff, Pace would be Gryffindor, and Brolin would be Slytherin.
• Saldana's favorite song from the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack is "Cherry Bomb."
• With a "new" Gamora after Endgame, Saldana would be interested to see what a "bad Gamora" would be like, to add layers to the character.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will soon get underway, with the recently reinstated James Gunn at the helm.