Frank Grillo reprises Marvel bad guy for ‘What If…?’ whodunit: ‘When they call, you pick up’
Marvel Cinematic Universe – even in animated form – and so is Grillo.
The actor, 56, reprises his role as antagonistic spy operative Brock Rumlow (aka supervillain Crossbones) in the newest episode of Marvel’s “What If…?” (streaming Wednesday on Disney+), which reimagines key characters, storylines and scenarios in the MCU.
The latest chapter is a whodunit set before the first “Avengers” movie in 2012: Someone’s killing the superheroes who are supposed to form the world-saving supergroup, and Nick Fury (again voiced by Samuel L. Jackson) and Black Widow (Lake Bell in the Scarlett Johansson role) have to find the culprit.
USA TODAY has an exclusive clip from the new episode, which features S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Rumlow transporting Black Widow after she’s brought in as a suspect – though his colleagues have a hard time keeping her locked down.
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A Marvel murder mystery is another chance for “What If…?” to “experiment with the form,” says executive producer Brad Winderbaum. The first episode, featuring Hayley Atwell’s Captain Carter, was about one individual making a choice that changes her entire life, while the second (with the late Chadwick Boseman as Star-Lord T’Challa) showed how changing one person can alter a universe forever. “We really approached the episodes like we would the films: playing with tone, playing with genre, playing with types of stories we wanted to tell, and just really exploring.”
Posthumous ‘What If…?’ appearance brings ‘solemnity’ to Marvel animated show
“And then they blew me up,” Grillo says with a laugh. “They gave Anthony Mackie the shield!” he says, as his “Civil War” co-star got the call to become the new Captain America.
Grillo, who also appeared in 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame,” keeps busy as one of the hardest-working guys in action movies: “I want to keep doing this till I’m 95,” he says. He stars alongside Gerard Butler in the upcoming thriller “Copshop” (in theaters Sept. 17); with Bruce Willis in the heist film “A Day to Die” (due in February); and opposite Josh Hartnett and Melissa Leo in the upcoming crime drama “Ida Red.”