This Captain America actor is making his grievances with the MCU known after he blamed the studio for falsely advertising his role in the franchise.
Marvel fans likely remember the character of Brock Rumlow (Frank Grillo) from Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014). He was first introduced to Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and STRIKE’s team field commander and followed Steve on several top-secret missions. However, it was later revealed that Brock had been a secret HYDRA infiltrator the entire time, tasked with taking down Captain America under orders from Alexander Pierce after the HYDRA Uprising was exposed. He was eventually taken down during the Battle at the Triskelion while fighting against Sam Wilson, suffering several horrific facial scars after being nearly crushed to death by a Helicarrier.
In Captain America: Civil War (2016), Brock appeared once more towards the beginning of the film, acting as an independent terrorist with the moniker of “Crossbones.” He proved to be no match for the Avengers, who beat him during a mission to Nigeria after he lured them in under false pretenses. Amid the chaos, Brock, in a last-ditch effort, attempted to detonate his suicide vest, but the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) stopped in just in time by mistakenly diverting him into the side of a building—at the cost of innocent Wakandan relief workers’ lives.
Brock had an undeniably significant role in the latter of the three Captain America films, acting as a second-billed villain to the other “big bads.” But after being somewhat unceremoniously killed off in Civil War, Brock’s actor found himself confused and frustrated over what was supposed to be a major, long-lasting franchise role. He was essentially ignored and forgotten about by the studio, who cut his role down to two movies instead of the seven he signed up for.
Speaking in a new interview, Frank Grillo expressed his disappointment regarding his time in the MCU. While chatting with ComicBook.com, Grillo claimed that the superhero studio undermined his character and even lied to him by saying Brock/Crossbones would have a bigger role—something Marvel has unfortunately been known to do. Since his last time suiting up as the Marvel villain, Grillo has found some choice words for the studio amid their empty promises, saying that “Crossbones was there for a minute,” but “he was supposed to be there longer:”
They never told a story [about Crossbones]. The mythology of the MCU and just what Marvel has in its pool of characters, it’s so deep. Crossbones was there for a minute, but he was supposed to be there longer, then they went the direction they did.
Grillo then pointed to fans’ generally positive reception of Brock/Crossbones, which, at the time, should have indicated a demand for his character to return:
I think Crossbones serves a purpose, but I think the interesting thing is that if you see how many people around the world have responded to Crossbones, and again, he’s on the screen for a very f–king short amount of time, I think there’s more there.
The actor got his wish somewhat fulfilled in Season 1, Episode 3 of Marvel’s What If…?, where he got to voice Brock/Crossbones again. However, whether or not there’s fan demand for more of Crossbones at this stage in the MCU doesn’t matter. Grillo seems as if he has officially put the nail in the coffin and will likely not be returning in any capacity. He even outright refused to make a cameo in Avengers: Endgame (2019) at first before he was eventually convinced by his son to sign on, and has since gone into detail about “being an a–hole” for declining the role.
In light of his recent comments, Grillo has teamed up with fellow ex-Marvel creative James Gunn and will join the DCEU in a still-unknown role. This casting is an especially fitting opportunity for Grillo, as he’ll finally get a second chance at the superhero treatment he was left lacking with the MCU. After a long and an arduous battle with one major studio, hopefully Grillo can find more stability with the other.
What do you think of Frank Grillo’s not-so-positive review of his time with Marvel? Let us know in the comments below.