Frank Grillo reveals James Gunn’s DCU is more organized while MCU was "a little fly by the seat of your pants"

Actor Frank Grillo, who has experienced the best of the DCU and Marvel, has opened up on how he perceives the respective filmmaking processes of the two worlds. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), he portrayed Brock Rumlow, or Crossbones, and in the DC world, we see him as Rick Flag Sr.

As reported exclusively by People, during the opening night of the DCU's Peacemaker Season 2, Grillo makes a parallel between the DCU and the MCU. He feels that both these studios work in their own unique ways. He mentions that he perceives James Gunn's DCU to be more organized, as he states:

“It’s different. It’s not organized in the same way. [DC] is really like all the scripts are in front of you and you kind of have a real secure handle on what’s happening.”

Let us find out more what Frank Grillo said about his perspective on the working methods of the DCU and the MCU.

Frank Grillo draws parallels between the workings of the DCU and the MCU

In a exclusive conversation with People, Frank Grillo candidly has opened up about his experience and observations whilst working with the DCU and the MCU. Whilst he feels the DCU to be more organized, he adds that Marvel is more inclined toward the element of unpredictability, in a way that the actors cannot predict what lies next in the storyline.

So, that can make actors bank on their instincts. He explains:

“And there’s nothing wrong with it, but [Marvel] was a little fly by the seat of your pants.”

The Prison Break actor mentions that this process of MCU feels a bit intimidating to him, as he adds:

“For me, it's a little scary to do it that way.”

Frank Grillo has also spoken about his experience of working with both the studios with Entertainment Weekly. According to the article, Grillo feels that while Marvel is prominent on an individual basis, DCU, to him, feels more fitting.

It is this very aspect of the studio that makes Grillo feel a more intimate connection with DCU, as he mentions:

“Marvel's a different machine, and it’s great in its own right, but the thing I love about James [Gunn]s' and Peter [Safran]’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.”

Frank Grillo has been a part of the MCU since 2014, where he has essayed the role of Brock Rumlow, or Crossbones, in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. His portrayal of the supervillain continued in the studio's Avengers: Endgame (2019), and a voice role for the animated series What If...? (2021, 2023).

In DCU, Grillo plays Rick Flag Sr. It began with his voice role in the series, Creature Commandos (2024-present). Then, he began portraying the character in flesh and blood in Season 2 of the HBO series Peacemaker (2025) as well as James Gunn's Superman (2025).

About the character of DCU's Rick Flag Sr., Frank Grillo says:

“I think all of us are monsters inside. We have sides of us that are ugly to look at sometimes. Just because Flag doesn't have that on the exterior, it doesn't mean it's not going on inside. Flag’s a dark guy, and I think that's why he can relate to these creatures.”