Frank Grillo will make his DCU debut as Rick Flag Sr. in the animated Creature Commandos series, before going on to play the character in live-action in Superman and Peacemaker season 2. As we're sure you're aware, the actor previously appeared in the MCU, but his Crossbones tenure was short-lived.
Grillo played ruthless S.H.I.E.L.D. strike team leader Brock Rumlow in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and while he did get the opportunity to suit-up as Crossbones in Civil War, the villain was killed-off in the opening scene.
The actor has made it clear that he wasn't happy about this in previous interviews, revealing that he very nearly turned down the opportunity to reprise the role in Avengers: Endgame.
"The trajectory of Crossbones took a turn, and he was out of the series really quickly, right," Grillo said in a 2021 interview with CinemaBlend.com. "And I was a little pissed off about it because, y’know, I signed a seven-picture deal with them. And it was like, ‘Oh, you're going to be part of the Marvel Universe, right?’ And it didn't happen. And so they called me and they said, ‘Look, we need you to come down for a week for Avengers,’ and I'm like, ‘For what?’ And they go, ‘Well, we can't…’ I'm like, ‘No, I'm not doing it.’ So I hung up. I get a call back. I'm like, ‘I'm not coming. Leave me alone’ And like… who am I? Who am I, right?"
Grillo has now revealed that Marvel almost fired him on a number of occasions - but not because of his past comments.
ComicBook.com asked the actor about his upcoming DCU projects, and he explained that he was hesitant to reveal any details because he got in trouble for saying too much during his Marvel Studios days.
"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."
To be honest, we don't recall Grillo dropping or even hinting at any major plot details while doing press for his MCU movies, but he clearly said something that the studio considered a big enough spoiler to warrant a stern telling off!