Frank Grillo Discusses How The DCU Differs From The MCU

In an interview with People, actor Frank Grillo discussed the differences between the MCU and DCU, particularly in their approaches to multiverses. Grillo has appeared in both the MCU as Brock Rumlow in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War, and in the DCU as Rick Flag Sr. in Superman (2025), as well as in the TV Series Creature Commandos and Season 2 of Peacemaker. “It’s different”, Grillo said, “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.”

Grillo then added, saying, “And there’s nothing wrong with it, but Marvel was a little fly by the seat of your pants.” Grillo also explained that while he found that Marvel has “done very well”, he also found this approach of acting in a scene fairly blind, due to the green screen-heavy sets, constant rewrites, and important plot or character elements being hidden from the actors “a little scary”. This is a sentiment shared by the Co-chairman and Co-CEO of DC Studios, James Gunn, who expressed in an interview that he believes the movie industry is “dying” because “people are making movies without a finished screenplay.”

Grillo also shared similar insights in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, where he compared DC Studios and Marvel Studios by saying, “They’re very different. Marvel’s a different machine, and it’s great in its own right, but the thing I love about James’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.”

Grillo can be seen as Rick Flag Sr. in DCU projects, such as James Gunn’s Superman (2025), which is currently available to rent or buy on digital platforms like Prime Video, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home. He can also be seen in DCU TV shows, such as Creature Commandos, which is currently streaming on HBO Max, and Peacemaker Season 2, which is currently streaming weekly episodes on HBO Max.