Frank Grillo Talks Crossbones in Captain America 3

Captain America: the Winter Soldier villain Frank Grillo may reprise his role as Brock "Crossbones" Rumlow in the upcoming third installment of the franchise.

Currently set for release on May 6, 2016, Captain America 3 will bring back the directors of Winter Soldier (Joe and Anthony Russo), and most of the cast is already confirmed to return as well.

"I'm cautiously optimist that you will see me in the not too distant future in the next installment of Captain America," Grillo told Collider. "Very early on the Russos said, 'Look, this is an origin film for this character. We're gonna discover who this is and this is a big movie with a lot of moving parts, but we're gonna discover you in this film and, you know, here's the information about who Brock Rumlow turns into and blah, blah, blah.' And so we've had multiple discussions about what comes after that, that thing. So, you know, it's obvious Rumlow is covered in rubble and burned to crisp at the end, but you see he's still there. They don't do that for no reason."

He noted that in all likelihood, the character would be wearing a Crossbones mask in the upcoming third installment.

Rumors have swirled around Captain America 3 after franchise star Chris Evans suggested that he may be finished acting once his current Marvel Studios contract is up. With Sebastian Stan, who plays Bucky Barnes, reportedly signed on for numerous additional films, there's been some suggestion that the third movie could adapt Ed Brubaker's "The Death of Captain America" storyline and see Stan step in as the new Cap in future installments. Crossbones played a major role in that story.

That seems less than likely, though, considering Avengers 3, in which Evans is also expected to star before his contract expires, will come after the third Captain America movie.