Frank Grillo’s been getting a lot of love for supporting work in gritty meat and potato films like Warrior and The Grey. Upcoming he can be seen in Ruben Fleischer’s Gangster Squad. To me he’ll always be homophobic, blanket party-enthusiast Officer Paul Jackson from The Shield.

Grillo’s newfound prominence is making him something of a hot commodity these days, and now come reports that Grillo’s in Marvel’s sights for a big role in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. From the actor’s own Twitter:

“See Ya LA. It was a good trip. Marvel was a lot of fun. Be cool if it works out. #CaptainAmerica”

That tweet appears to have been deleted already. But it comes after a report from IGN’s Matthew Aaron that Grillo is close to landing the role of Crossbones in Winter Soldier. Aside from being one of Marvel Comics’ great dicks, Crossbones has a history that’s all over the map. A skilled marksman and assassin, he’s perhaps most famous for supposedly headshotting Steve Rogers dead in the aftermath of Civil War*. The mantel of Captain America was then taken up by Bucky Barnes, aka The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan in the film).

I doubt Marvel plans to resurrect that elaborate arc in its entirety, but Crossbone’s involvement at least hints that they’re playing in familiar territory. Captain America: The Winter Soldier will be directed by Anthony and Joseph Russo. Shooting begins March of 2013 for an April 4, 2014 release.

*If memory serves, Crossbones was later vindicated of the kill. Also, the bullet didn’t kill Rogers, it just separated him from space and time for a couple of years. Fucking comics…