Captain America: The Winter Soldier is probably the best MCU solo movie. Grounded action, heart-beating suspense, and amazing villains made for an interesting watch. And among the villains was the inclusion of Frank Grillo‘s Crossbones who also made a cameo appearance in Avengers: Endgame but the actor initially turned down the offer to appear in the film.
Crossbones has been a constant presence in Captain America comics as one of his arch-nemesis. Agent Rumlow, as he is known, appeared for the first time in The Winter Soldier and then again in Captain America: Civil War but he was dispatched pretty quickly.
Frank Grillo had signed a seven-year contract when he signed on to appear in The Winter Soldier. But in Civil War, his character was killed off in an explosion. Then in Avengers: Endgame, Captain America came face to face with the character again as Rumlow made a cameo, but that almost did not happen as Frank initially rejected the offer to come back for the highest-grossing movie of all time.
Frank Grillo Had an Axe to Grind with Marvel when They Asked for a Cameo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtRKpPpWVgE
Most of the main and supporting characters that appear in Marvel movies have to sign long-term contracts with the studio. The actors will be signed to a varying number of movies and that was the case for Frank Grillo who was excited to be part of the MCU for seven movies.
But after the success of The Winter Soldier, both critically and commercially changed the story bit for MCU a little. There were an abundance of villains and a side villain would just take away from the story which resulted in Frank Grillo’s Crossbones getting killed off at the start of the Civil War.
From signing a contract for seven movies to getting killed off within the second movie of the contract, that left a bad taste for Frank. And when the time-travel storyline of Endgame meant his character’s inclusion, the actor was not particularly welcoming towards the idea of doing the character again.
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Frank Grillo is starring in a new action movie alongside Mel Gibson in 2021. His character is stuck in a time-loop and he needs to figure out who is trying to kill him and why. The actor is currently promoting the film and he was talking with the people at Lights Camera Barstool podcast where the Marvel topic and his involvement was broached.
The actor explained he enjoyed working in Winter Soldier with director Joe and Anthony Russo but Crossbones‘ character took a different trajectory after the movie. Frank explained he was not happy about that and when asked for a cameo role, he was not willing to take the call.
Frank said, “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.”
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Despite Frank’s initial rejection we know Rumlow appeared in Avengers: Endgame. It was a smile and inducing cameo that brought back some great memories from The Winter Soldier. And as the actor explains, he did not change his mind because of the directors of Endgame, instead, it was his son who got him to take the cameo appearance.
“My 22-year-old son said to me,‘You should go and do Avengers.’ I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, why should I go?’ ‘Because I’m telling you need to go.’ He said, ‘I don’t care if you’re in the movie for 10 seconds. It’s a part of history. It’s a big deal. It’s a big scene. It’s an important thing… everybody gets to kind of smile and go, ‘Oh my God!’ And that’s why I did it, because of my son, not because of the Russos,” Frank explained.
We all remember the memorable elevator scene where Captain goes up against Rumlow and other Hydra agents. The Endgame scene called back to that moment but this time Rodgers used his wits to get what he wanted and moved on. The scene got a massive laugh in the theatres and it was the right decision by Frank to make the cameo.
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Avengers: Endgame Captain America Captain America: The Winter Soldier Crossbones Frank Grillo Marvel MCU
Last modified: March 7, 2021
