After being cast as Rick Flag Sr. in DC Studios' animated Creature Commandos, we recently learned that Frank Grillo will make the leap to live-action when he reprises the role in Peacemaker season 2.
The actor turned 59 earlier this month, but make no mistake about it, he'll be more than a match for John Cena's Christopher Smith.
As you'll see in the screenshot below, Grillo is "getting dialled in" for his DCU role with a training regime that's made him look an absolute beast. He's no stranger to action roles, of course, and we'd imagine he'll see plenty of that when Flag Sr. comes gunning for revenge following his son's murder at Peacemaker's hands.
"Pleased to announce the great [Frank Grillo] will be reprising the role of Rick Flag, Sr - the role he’ll first play in animated form in 'Creature Commando's - throughout Season 2 of 'Peacemaker,'" DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn recently said on Instagram. "Christopher Smith and Rick Sr have a little unfinished business to take care of..."
Grillo was sorely underutilised in the MCU, something he's talked openly about on several occasions. After first playing Brock Rumlow with a memorable supporting turn in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, he returned as Crossbones in Captain America: Civil War...and immediately died.
The actor got a cameo in Avengers: Endgame and has lent his voice to What If...?, but it's looking like he'll have much more to do in the DCU.
"I recorded with [David] Harbour, and I may have recorded with Maria [Bakalova]. But it’s great," Grillo previously said of joining the franchise and Creature Commandos. "I love James Gunn and Peter Safran and what they’re doing at DC and for the DCU, and these characters are living in all their movies."
"I’m going to be around for a while, and I wish I could tell you what I have coming up with them, but I can’t," he added, likely hinting at the Peacemaker news before it was made official by Gunn last month.
"[In] a world filled with great talent, actors, and famous movie stars, I mean what James Gunn and Peter Safran has entrusted in me with this character," Grillo concluded, "and with the future of what they’re doing in that company, I’m humbled."
Peacemaker season 2 doesn't currently have a confirmed premiere date on Max. However, with shooting underway, we'd imagine the plan is for it to be released either before or shortly after Superman arrives in theaters next July.