Frank Grillo played Brock Rumlow, aka Crossbones, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but the actor has made the leap to DC to play Rick Flag Sr. While speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Grillo explained why he prefers playing in the DCU over the MCU.
“They’re very different,” Grillo said. “Marvel’s a different machine, and it’s great in its own right, but the thing I love about James’ and Peter’s DC is that it’s much more contained. It’s so much more personal and I really enjoy it better. I just love being part of something in the embryonic stage and being able to grow with it and watch it and flourish.” Crossbones was never utilized in the way fans (or Grillo) expected, so I can’t say I blame him for being more excited about his DC role.
Grillo made his DCU debut in the animated Creature Commandos series but will be making the leap to live-action with Superman and the second season of Peacemaker. “With Creature Commandos and Peacemaker, Flag is a prominent figure in the stories,” Grillo said. “With Superman, he kind of just drops in.“
The actor added that although his character sports some intense white hair in the animated series, they weren’t able to do the same thing for Superman or Peacemaker as he happened to be shooting the second season of Tulsa King at the same time. “Unfortunately, we shot some of the Peacemaker and Superman while I was in the middle of shooting Tulsa King, so we were limited to what we could do with my hair,” Grillo said. “I had to just use what I had and try to make it as interesting as I could. I had every intention of dying it white and slicing it up, but I just couldn’t do it.“
In addition to Grillo as Rick Flag Sr., Creature Commandos features the voices of David Harbour as Eric Frankenstein, Indira Varma as The Bride, Maria Bakalova as Princess Ilana Rostovic, Alan Tudyk as Doctor Phosphorus, Zoe Chao as Nina Mazursky, and Steve Agee as John Economos, and Sean Gunn as Weasel. The series tracks a secret team of incarcerated monsters recruited for missions deemed too dangerous for humans. When all else fails… they’re your last, worst option. DC has already renewed Creature Commandos for a second season.
