Getting A Grillo-Ing: Frank Grillo Teases A Crossbones Return To The MCU

There's no "bones" about it, Disney's MCU contains the cream of the acting crop thanks to stars like Chris Hemsworth, Scarlet Johansson, and Robert Downey Jr. However, let's not forget the little guys and supporting members like Tim Roth, Haley Atwell, and #FrankGrillo, who have all had a part to play across the past nine years and 16 films.

Purge franchise star Grillo memorably suited up to play the villainous Brock Rumlow (Crossbones) in The Winter Soldier, before he returned for a small part in Captain America: Civil War. Unfortunately, Grillo was just a cameo in the Cap vs. Iron Man spectacle, and was dispatched by his own dramatic explosion when he took on a vexed Scarlett Witch. With Crossbones seemingly "brown bread," Grillo has just reminded us that dead isn't always dead in the #MCU.

Cross-Words

Just like on the pages of Marvel's comic books, people never stay dead for very long, and since Crossbones isn't Uncle Ben, there was always a chance he could come back. Speaking to Forbes, the man behind the mask hinted that #KevinFeige has left the door open for his return to the world of Hulks and hammers:

"It's great to be part of Marvel too, and I have three boys who are fanatical about Marvel, and I was surprised not too long ago because there is some news that nobody knows yet, to do with my character, that's going to be really interesting and I'm excited about that."

Forget your kids, Frank, what about us being excited? Rumlow may have survived having a building dropped on him to become his disfigured alter ego, but how many lives does this guy have? Crossbones's fate was sort of left to the imagination of audiences, but it was safe to assume that detonating your own suicide bomb is a surefire way to send yourself to an early dirt nap. That being said, the MCU bigwigs may have been keeping the character lurking in the shadows for a spectacular encore.

Set pictures from the upcoming #InfinityWar already seemed to show the return of Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the deceased Quicksilver, and fans are guessing that Thanos will be putting those Infinity Stones to good use to resurrect some famous faces from the past of our Avengers.

Despite seeming to leave the Marvelverse behind in 2016, Grillo clearly still holds a place in his heart for that small role as Crossbones:

“I'm also a small part of the Marvel world, but to be a part of something like this, if anyone tells you that's not a big deal, they're lying. It's great to be part of Marvel too."

Fans of the character were left more than a little disappointed with Crossbones's blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance in Civil War, relegating the villain to the ranks of other lackluster inclusions like Mandarin and Baron von Struker. A Crossbones reprisal could certainly be the perfect way to redeem the Hydra sleeper agent, but only time will tell how/if Grillo will return to the MCU. Admittedly, unless Disney is planning on releasing some sort of Frank Grillo action figure, you can cross(bones) your heart that he will be sticking on that scarred makeup sometime in the near future.