Frank Grillo to Reprise CROSSBONES Role for What If…?

by Rebecca Kaplan · Published March 30, 2021 · Updated March 30, 2021

Frank Grillo, who played the role of Brock Rumlow (A.K.A. Crossbones) in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) and Captain America: Civil War (2016), will be reprising (a version of) the role for the upcoming animated Disney+ Marvel Cinematic Universe series, What If…?

Isn’t He Dead?

That’s right, Mighty Marvel Blog fans, he sure is! In the opening moments of Civil War, Crossbones attempted to detonate a bomb that would have sent both him and Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) to their respective makers. However, Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) was able to use her fledgling Hex powers to create a containment field for the ensuing explosion…

Photo: Marvel Studios

However, due to her inexperience with her abilities (where’s Agatha when you need her), Wanda was unable to send the explosion to a safe distance, and it collided with a nearby office building, causing innocent casualties and leading to the imposition of the Sokovia Accords.

Nevertheless, Grillo is reprising his role in What If…? So what gives? Did somebody finally get a hold of a role of Lagos Paper Towers and wipe up the explosive mess at the beginning of Civil War?

Marvel Studios’ What If…?

First Vision and now Crossbones! Why won’t any of these dead characters stay dead?

For Crossbones, it’s because the What If…? stories are intentionally out of continuity. This allows for one-shot stories, usually starring familiar characters, but with stories that don’t affect the main canon (and which may end with the main characters meeting their ultimate fate).

Frank Grillo and Chris Evans. Photo: Vocal

And better still, because the nature of What If…? stories vary wildly, Crossbones could return in ANY capacity! The story might be set during the events of The Winter Soldier, or take place on a timeline where Crossbones never died, or be able the dead returning to life, or…

But are each of the episodes in What If…? standalone stories? Some of Grillo’s quotes suggest that we might be seeing certain timelines in more than one episode.

(TVA) Animation’s Moment

In an interview with Express.co.uk, Grillo said he wasn’t sure in how many episodes Crossbones will appear: “I don’t know the number,” he said. “But as they kind of finish them we find out then if we’re going to be in that one.”

Photo: Heroic Hollywood

Grillo also spent some of the interview discussing how he recorded his lines for the series in his closet at home, because of the restrictions made necessary due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Fortunately, voice actors can easily record their lines remotely thanks to technological advancements – Mike McMahan, the creator of another animated show, Star Trek: Lower Decks, observed that animation is “uniquely suited for this moment.”

Who Do You Hope to See?

While WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier have given us some interesting Marvel moments, What If…? and Grillo promise to deliver some really strange stuff! Which characters do you hope to see when the first MCU animated series arrives on Disney+ this summer? Let Marvel Blog know in the comment section!