When we first learned that Sony was moving ahead with a third Men in Black movie back in April, we speculated that the powers-that-be would be bringing on a new partner for Will Smith’s J. It looks like that could be what’s happening, as The Los Angeles Times’ Hero Complex Blog is reporting that Josh Brolin is being considered for a lead role.

Tropic Thunder scribe Etan Cohen was hired back in October to write the screenplay, and the news that casting choices are now being considered would suggest that it’s either nearing completion or done already. Barry Sonnenfeld is tentatively scheduled to make a return to the director’s chair, but it remains to be seen whether or not that will actually happen since he currently has a number of other projects in the pipeline (including a Tom Swift movie and The How-To Guide for Saving the World).

Hit the jump to see what role Brolin would play.

Details are still scant in regards to Brolin’s specific part, but Hollywood speculators have come up with a few possibilities. The first one has him as a new single-monikered agent to succeed K as J’s partner. The other would have him assuming the role of K himself, but as a young man. I’m not sure how that would work, unless a good part of the film took place in flashback or they came up with a plot device that would have either J or young K being transported to a different time period (which, in the MiB universe, is definitely feasible). And, of course, he could always be playing someone completely different.

While I’d love to see Brolin join the film, and hiring an actor of his caliber would certainly seem like the route that Sony would want to take for a third film in a franchise that will have been dormant for almost a decade by the time MiB 3 comes out, I’m still taking this story with a grain of salt for now. The film has yet to even be greenlit (though if all these pieces do indeed fall into place, that’ll quickly change), so file it away as an early — but tantalizing — rumor. I expect that we’ll see some movement (or very telling non-movement) on the project as we get closer to the projected 2010 start date, so we’ll have some more updates for you then.

Tags: Barry Sonnenfeld, Etan Cohen, Josh Brolin, Men In Black 3, Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith