Due to the ever-growing expansiveness of the MCU, characters we thought we had seen the last of keep coming back. In the case of Brock Rumlow, that’s already happened a couple of times. Frank Grillo debuted as the supporting villain in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, before coming back as Rumlow – now known as Crossbones following his disfigurement – at the beginning of Captain America: Civil War, though he ultimately died in that film’s opening sequence.
However, thanks to time travel, Grillo returned for a cameo in Avengers: Endgame, and then recently voiced the character in an episode of What If…?, thanks to that show’s multiversal remit. But the actor hopes that there’s still more from Crossbones to come in the future of the franchise. While speaking on The Beard and The Bald Movie Podcast, Grillo revealed that he feels confident Kevin Feige could have plans for Rumlow again at some point.
Here’s his full response:
“I gotta tell you, I’m grateful for it, first of all. It’s kind of a testament to the power of Marvel. I’m in two movies, basically, two Captain America movies. Crossbones is only in one of those movies, right? And, you would think that, I mean, I was side-by-side with Captain America in the public’s eye. Like, they don’t see it that way. I love that they keep this alive in some way, shape or form.
I would absolutely be head over heels to get a call and say, ‘we have written Crossbones into such-and-such’. I would love-before I’m too old and ridiculous, I’d love to go do a little bit more with Crossbones, because I thought it was a cool character. And Crossbones is very popular and [the fans] are very vocal about it. So, Kevin Feige, who’s the smartest guy on the planet-who knows, hopefully it’ll be me, but I imagine somewhere down the line, how do you not bring this guy back?”
Crossbones’ premature death in Civil War was criticized by many fans, who felt the villain – one of Cap’s most recurring foes in the comics – had much more to offer. Marvel seems to have appeased its critics with Grillo’s Endgame and What If…? cameos, but a bigger comeback wouldn’t go amiss. Maybe he could be somehow resurrected for a battle with Sam Wilson in Captain America 4?
Even if that isn’t possible – he was blown up in Civil War, which is pretty hard to come back from, even in the MCU – then an alternate version of Crossbones from another universe could always show up somewhere, thanks to the likes of Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange 2 cracking open the doors to the multiverse. Grillo’s probably right to be confident that he’s not done as Rumlow just yet.
In the meantime, Grillo can be seen in action movie Copshop, opposite Gerard Butler, in theaters now.