Frank Grillo Addresses Marvel Having “Been In Trouble” Lately And How James Gunn’s DC Universe Is So Different

Actor Frank Grillo is among a select few who have acted in both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and James Gunn’s upcoming DC Universe. He played Brock Rumlow/Crossbones in the MCU and will play Rick Flag, Sr. in the DCU. As such, he has unique insight into what both franchises are like.

In an interview with Cinema Blend, the actor said that Marvel has “been in trouble a little bit because they got, I think, way over their skis, so to speak.” He then elaborated that the manner in which James Gunn and Peter Safran are crafting the DCU “creates a cohesiveness and an understanding of the character” through using the same actors across animated and live-action projects.

Grillo continued: “more importantly, [Gunn] understands how to utilize them in each story. And so there’s not an egregious number of people who you’re like, ‘Why is he (here)? What’s this? Are they trying to throw this character in just because?’ They have a different approach. We’ll see how it works out. But I feel a difference in it.”

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  Marvel Cinematic Universe

  The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a multimedia superhero franchise that began in 2008 with Paramount’s Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. The franchise quickly grew in popularity, with Disney eventually buying out Marvel Entertainment in 2009. The MCU consists of dozens of movies and TV shows, most notably Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision, and Loki.

  Cast

  Robert Downey Jr. , Chris Evans , Scarlett Johansson , Samuel L. Jackson , Jeremy Renner , Chris Hemsworth , Mark Ruffalo , Edward Norton , Paul Rudd , Tom Holland , Tom Hiddleston , Anthony Mackie , Cobie Smulders , Brie Larson , Chadwick Boseman , Sebastian Stan , Chris Pratt , Dave Bautista , Zoe Saldana , Bradley Cooper , Vin Diesel , Pom Klementieff , Josh Brolin , Karen Gillan , Clark Gregg , Paul Bettany , Don Cheadle , Benedict Cumberbatch , Evangeline Lilly , Simu Liu , Aaron Taylor-Johnson , Angelina Jolie , Kit Harington , Salma Hayek , Richard Madden , Barry Keoghan , Gemma Chan , Ma Dong-seok , Brian Tyree Henry , Kumail Nanjiani , Lauren Ridloff , Lia McHugh , Jonathan Majors

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  DC Universe

  The DC Universe is one of the biggest comic book franchises and often competes with Marvel. DC Comics started as National Allied Publications, founded by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson in 1935. Since then, the franchise has exploded with thousands of comic books, movies, TV shows, and video games. 2013 marked the beginning of the most recent iteration of the superheroes, with Zack Snyder introducing Henry Cavill as Superman. After several movies with mixed reviews, DC underwent a soft reboot under the helm of James Gunn and Peter Safran.

  Created by

  Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson

  Cast

  Henry Cavill , Ben Affleck , Gal Gadot , Ezra Miller , Ray Fisher , Jason Momoa , Amy Adams , Jesse Eisenberg , Laurence Fishburne , Jeremy Irons , Will Smith , Jared Leto , Margot Robbie , Joel Kinnaman , Viola Davis , Jai Courtney , Jay Hernandez , Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje , Cara Delevingne , Chris Pine , Robin Wright , Zachary Levi , Dwayne Johnson , Amber Heard , Patrick Wilson , Yahya Abdul-Mateen II , Mark Strong , Asher Angel , Jack Dylan Grazer , Djimon Hounsou , Mary Elizabeth Winstead , Jurnee Smollett , Rosie Perez , Ella Jay Basco , Ali Wong , Ewan McGregor , Idris Elba , John Cena , Michael Keaton , George Clooney , Xolo Mariduena

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Upcoming MCU Movies

Upcoming DC Movie Releases