One of the minor background players in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that the franchise could have definitely done more with is Frank Grillo’s Crossbones. After playing a small part as a HYDRA goon in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, comic book fans knew what was coming when we saw him suffer some serious injuries during the climactic third act action sequence.
Sure enough, Brock Rumlow reappeared as his costumed alter ego in the prologue to Civil War, but he was swiftly defeated by Cap’s faction of Avengers before being blown up and killed off, although he did play a very minor role in Avengers: Endgame‘s time heist. There was so much more that Marvel could have done with the villain, though, especially when Grillo admitted that he’d signed a multi-picture deal with the studio.
Not only is the actor’s grizzled charisma a welcome presence in anything he appears in, but as a lifelong practitioner of martial arts playing a comic book bad guy with an awesomely cool costume, Crossbones had the potential to be a major recurring foe for any number of the MCU’s roster of heroes.
Thankfully, then, in a recent interview the 55 year-old confirmed that he’ll be making his return to the franchise imminently, albeit in animated form after revealing that he’s set for multiple episodes of Disney Plus exclusive What If…?.
“If the President calls and says, ‘I want you to come to the White House’, you don’t ask why, you just kind of get on a plane and go to the White House. My agents called and said, ‘They’re doing this thing, What If…?, and they have four or five episodes planned out, you can do it all in one day’. I’m like, ‘Whatever, I don’t care what the money is, it doesn’t matter, yes I’m going to do it. Absolutely. All day, every day’.”
Grillo clearly has a huge appreciation for the MCU given his eagerness to board What If…? without any hesitation, even if his live-action role in the franchise was more than a little limited. That being said, having filmed sixteen movies and three TV shows since the start of 2018 alone, it isn’t as though the guy is struggling for work.
