Frank Grillo Says Marvel “Almost Fired” Him Multiple Times for Leaking News

Action star Frank Grillo had a great run in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, playing the villainous Brock Rumlow (Crossbones) in three of the franchise’s films. He became a massive favorite amongst fans after Captain America: The Winter Soldier and continues to be high on the lists of former MCU actors people hope to see make a return. That said, Grillo’s tenure with Marvel Studios could’ve been a little shorter, as the studio apparently came close to firing him for accidentally sharing too much information.

ComicBook recently sat down with Grillo to chat about his new movie, Long Gone Heroes, and we asked about his upcoming work in the budding DC Universe. Grillo will lend his voice to the character of Rick Flag Sr. in the animated series Creature Commandos, before appearing as the live-action version of the character in Peacemaker Season 2 and Superman. He was hesitant to say anything about his role, worried about potentially saying too much, and explained that oversharing almost cost him his job at Marvel — on more than one occasion.

“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,’” Grillo told us. “I am so bad at this. Like, Marvel almost fired me 36 f—ing 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.”

We’re not going to hear any DC secrets from Frank Grillo, but he does appear set for a substantial role in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new franchise. That’s not to say he wouldn’t take another shot at playing Crossbones, though. When asked if he’d want to return to the MCU at some point, Grillo had nothing but positive things to say about both his Marvel and DC experiences.

“I don’t know, at this point in my life, all the things that I thought were real and true, I’ve learned as a man who’s now matured, that if they ask me to do that, I would love to go back and do it. And I’m loving what I’m doing with DC. I love James Gunn and Peter Safran and they’ve given me an amazing opportunity. But at this point, I’m happy about everything I’ve done and I’m certainly willing to…if they meet me, if there’s something great to go do, I would certainly be ready to go do that.”

You can catch Frank Grillo in Long Gone Heroes, playing in theaters this weekend.