Superman actor says that working with Marvel is ‘scary’ compared to DC

Two superhero studios ‘not organised in same way’ star says

Actor Frank Grillo, star of both Marvel and DC movie franchises, has said the “different” ways in which both studios operate.

Detailing his experiences with the two companies, Grillo, 60, admitted that he felt more “secure” when working with DC whereas Marvel was a “little scary”.

He told People the comic book studios are not organised 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,” Grillo explained. “And there’s nothing wrong with it, but [Marvel] was a little fly by the seat of your pants.”

Grillo added that although Marvel had done “very well”, he found their process “a little scary” as he was often going into scenes dark due to unfinished scripts.

Frank Grillo (Getty Images)

Grillo recently made his return to live-action superhero films, playing Rick Flag Sr in James Gunn’s Superman. He previously played Brock Rumlow (aka Crossbones) in the Marvel movies Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Captain America: Civil War (2016) and Avengers: Endgame (2019).

A similar grievance about unfinished scripts was recently expressed by Alan Cumming, who is returning to Marvel to reprise his role of Nightcrawler in Avengers: Doomsday, due for release in 2026.

“The script hasn’t – they haven’t finished writing it. It’s been very, very fun, and we don’t know yet. They keep everything very close to the vest themselves in an effort to keep everything under wraps,” the Scottish actor told San Diego Comic Con.

James Gunn has claimed unfinished scripts are killing the movie industry.

The director told The Hollywood Reporter: “I do believe that the reason why the movie industry is dying is not because of people not wanting to see movies. It’s not because of home screens getting so good. The number-one reason is because people are making movies without a finished screenplay.”

Gunn, along with Peter Safran, took over DC Studios in 2022 and has found immediate success with Superman grossing more than $600m at the global box office.

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Frank Grillo (left) alongside David Corenswet (centre) in Superman (DC Studios)

Grillo, meanwhile, has already popped up in several new DC projects as Rick Flagg Sr, playing the role in the animated series Creature Commandos and in Peacemaker season two.