Captain America isn’t known for having a popular rogues gallery, but one of his greatest villains is Brock Rumlow, aka Crossbones. He’s not on the same level as the likes of other big-level Marvel villains such as Doctor Doom or Red Skull, but he’s not that type. In fact, in the comics, he’s known for being one of the Red Skull’s top henchmen or his most deadly assassin. By definition, he’s a mercenary and a hired gun, but make no mistake about it, he’s very good at it. That’s exactly why he has given Captain America so much trouble over the years and has gone toe-to-toe with some other big Marvel heroes. He’s got a corny costume that fits the old school Marvel bill, but he’s no joke.
But what is kind of funny is how he debuted in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Back when Crossbones did debut in the MCU, he wasn’t really Crossbones. In fact, he was only known as his alter ego Brock Rumlow, and what was even more ironic was the fact that he was on the good side. Well, not really, but for a while, he did fight alongside Captain America, which was unexpected. When we first saw him in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, he was the leader of a S.H.I.E.L.D strike team. He was an effective team leader and a loyal companion to Cap, except he was secretly a part of the Hydra organization that was infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D.
His coolest scenes in the movie were the elevator scene where he was brave enough to take on Cap (with his squad, of course) and his brief fight scene with Sam Wilson. We all remember what happened after that (a freaking building fell on him) and the birth of Crossbones began. It’s just a shame that his time as actual Crossbones was so short. In my opinion, he should’ve had more time in the MCU.
I think we should take a minute and fully appreciate the impact of Crossbones has had on the MCU. Captain America: Civil War had a banger of an opening, with the whole Avengers team pursuing Crossbones in Lagos. That was an epic fight scene, with the whole team getting their cool moments and Crossbones himself taking on two Avengers. He nearly killed Black Widow and went toe-to-toe with Cap. If that’s not enough to take him seriously, then just think about how he died.
When he lost his fist fight with Cap, he made one last suicide attempt to kill him by blowing himself up. And as we all remember, poor Wanda Maximoff, in a desperate attempt to contain the blast, threw him into an adjacent building. Unfortunately, there were civilians inside and what happened afterwards was the MCU’s civil war event. Yes, it was a very awesome storyline that the MCU chose to adapt, but come on guys, let’s not put the blame on Wanda. To be fair, she was still an inexperienced Avenger and still learning to control her powers. It’s just a shame the Sokovia Accords had to happen because of her grave mistake.
Then again, who was responsible for leading the Avengers there in the first place? The bigger and badder Crossbones took his crew of mercenaries to Lagos with the mission of obtaining a biological weapon. An unnamed client hired them to steal it and give it to them, but of course the Avengers were there to stop them. Crossbones himself predicted this and was just itching for his rematch with Cap. Again, it was an epic showdown and I’m pretty sure Crossbones took the mission with the hopes of running into Cap.
After seeing them duke it out, I really don’t think their rivalry should end there. Yes, before you all say it, I am fully aware that Crossbones was blown to bits. But let’s be real here, this is the MCU we’re talking about. It’s based on a comic book universe and any comic book fan knows full well that “dead” characters have a tendency to not stay dead very long. Why should it be any different for the MCU? Of course, the obvious answer is that things are much easier to pull off in comics than in movies. But if you’ve been keeping up with the MCU, you should know that they like being ambitious. I mean, have you guys been hearing about the rumors surrounding Spider-Man: No Way Home? If all of them are true, then all bets are now officially off.
How would Crossbones return from the dead? Honestly, there’s a dozen different ways. But if you think there’s a larger chance of it not happening, just keep in mind that Frank Grillo, the actor behind the villain, is all for returning to reprise his role. In a recent interview on a podcast, he confirmed that he really enjoyed playing the character and praised the creative genius of Kevin Feige. Grillo specified and said that if Kevin Feige wants it to happen, then it will happen. Personally, I really hope Kevin Feige decides to bring back Crossbones in some way. In my opinion, he can Cap can go another round.
And let’s just take a minute to appreciate how freaking dedicated Frank Grillo is to his own physical fitness. I mean, the man is fifty-six and he’s ridiculously ripped. If you’re a young man and want to look that good, just look at his social media for inspiration. For a guy his age to look that good, he must make one last appearance as Crossbones and show us what he’s made of. Oh, and I suppose you can count his two voice appearances in the animated What If…? series on Disney+, but even there, he’s just Brock Rumlow. We need more of that bigger and badder Crossbones who threw Black Widow around like a rag doll and gave Cap a good fistfight.
If he does return, will he be another mercenary-for-hire or can he actually work for a bigger villain like Red Skull? It would be a cool nod to the comics, wouldn’t it? What are your thoughts, Marvel fans?Marvel Cinematic Universe
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