Marvel Star Almost Refused to Return For Avengers: Endgame

There was one point in the development of Avengers: Endgame that Frank Grillo originally turned down his cameo role. After appearing as Brock Rumlow — the HYDRA agent who turns into Crossbones — Grillo says he feels the character wasn't done justice. That's why when the Russo Brothers came calling for Endgame, we actually hung up on them during the first call. The Captain America star says he was under the assumption his seven-picture deal with the House of Ideas would prove more fruitful, and that was originally the driving force behind his initial decision to not appear.

"The trajectory of Crossbones took a turn and he was out of the series really quickly, right? And I was a little pissed off about it because, y'know, I signed a seven-picture deal with them," Grillo said on a recent episode of the Lights Camera Barstool podcast. "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?"

As you know by now, Rumlow ended up appearing in the feature during the 2012 New York timeline where Captain America (Chris Evans) is tasked with retrieving Loki's scepter from those HYDRA agents posing as members of SHIELD. According to Grillo, he eventually agreed to the cameo at the insistence of his son.

"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,'" Grillo added. "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."

Endgame and all three Captain America movies are now streaming on Disney+.

What other MCU characters would you like to see return at some point in the future? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!