Frank Grillo, who played Crossbones in the MCU, was nearly fired by Marvel Studios multiple times for leaking news and spoilers during his tenure in the franchise. Grillo made his MCU debut in Captain America: The Winter Soldier as Brock Rumlow, a sleeper agent for Hydra. After Captain America dropped a literal building on him, the character somehow returned (Palpatine moment) in Captain America: Civil War, this time donning an adapted version of his comic book costume, and going by the moniker Crossbones. With the MCU being the biggest movie franchise of all-time, and with scoopers and paparazzi endlessly desperate to leak footage, secrecy is of the upmost importance to Marvel Studios, and it nearly cost Grillo his job.

Speaking to ComicBook.com, Frank Grillo discussed his new role in the DC Universe, and looked back at his turbulent time in the MCU. Grillo will voice Rick Flag Snr in the animated series Creature Commandos (which officially kicks off the new DC Universe), before making the jump to live action in the second season of Peacemaker and, eventually, Superman. When asked about the upcoming project, Grillo was cagey about saying anything, remembering how he nearly lost his job after leaking spoilers about the MCU. The actor said:

“You know, unfortunately, there’s nothing I can really say that wouldn’t get me in trouble.
So I kind of have to step back and go, ‘I take the fifth.’ I am so bad at this. Like, Marvel almost fired me 36 f*cking times because I don’t know. I never want to lie. And so, I do that a little too much. But I’ve been warned.”

Following the comment, fans were quick to compare Frank Grillo’s loose lips to his MCU co-star (although the pair never meet on screen), Tom Holland. The Spider-Man star is notorious for spoilers, having revealed the poster for Avengers: Infinity War during an Instagram livestream, accidentally unveiling that his version of Spider-Man will get a trilogy in the MCU, and revealing that Tobey Maguire and Andrwe Garfield would appear in Spider-Man: No Way Home. If Grillo nearly got fired for some minor Crossbones spoilers, how on Earth does Tom Holland still have a job?

Frank Grillo Would Love to Return to the MCU

Crossbones met a grizzly end in Captain America: Civil War. After unveiling a bomb vest strapped to his chest, Crossbones was contorted like something out of a Cronenberg movie and launched into the air by Scarlett Witch (Elisabeth Olsen), in an attempt to limit civilian casualties. In the build up to Avengers: Endgame, Grillo laxly spoiled his surprise MCU return, saying that he doesn’t care about spoilers because he’s never making another Marvel movie.

During the conversation, Grillo reflected on his past comments, admitting that he’s now “matured” as a person. If Kevin Feige called the actor about returning as Crossbones, Grillo said he would absolutely return. He explained:

“I don’t know, at this point in my life, all the things that I thought were real and true, I’ve learned as a man who’s now matured, that if they ask me to do that, I would love to go back and do it. And I’m loving what I’m doing with DC. I love James Gunn and Peter Safran and they’ve given me an amazing opportunity. But at this point, I’m happy about everything I’ve done and I’m certainly willing to…if they meet me, if there’s something great to go do, I would certainly be ready to go do that.”#

Creature Commandos
debuts on Max on December 5, 2024.