Did Frank Grillo troll us all about Crossbones in Avengers 4?

After a recent interview saying he’d be in Avengers 4, Frank Grillo seems to be taking back what he said about the big “spoiler.” So, was he telling the truth?

Please, Marvel actors. Our hearts are fragile right now, and we can’t take being played for suckers when it comes to the Avengers. We’ve been left in a difficult spot after Avengers: Infinity War, and that means Marvel fans are looking for any bit of information about Avengers 4 they can gather to survive.

Just recently, for example, Frank Grillo — the actor who plays Crossbones — “revealed” that his character would make a comeback in Avengers 4 via a flashback. While everyone was delighted to put together the pieces to figure out how Crossbones might fit into the picture, it seems like fans should have held on to their horses.

A few days after the interview, Grillo is backtracking and saying that this whole thing is fake news. (Fake news that he started, mind you.) During his interview with the UFC Unfiltered podcast, Grillo talked about his character with the host saying, “He makes an appearance in the next Avengers movie.” When the host asked him if he was for real, Grillo calmly responded that he indeed does. There was no sense of sarcasm in his voice or anything to indicate that he was just joking. And yet, on Instagram, Grillo made sure to clarify that he confirmed nothing about his character.

If Grillo’s Instagram statement really is true, then Crossbones won’t be returning to the MCU in Avengers 4 (or ever, if that’s the case — since his character died.) His statement did raise some questions about how the Avengers would come across him in the first place. Some have already guessed that the Avengers would be traveling back in time for the movie, but running into Crossbones during a flashback didn’t necessarily seem like one of the most plausible outcomes for the movie. Then again, you can’t hold anything against the Russo brothers when it comes to their plot twists.

On that note, there might be the tiniest possibility that Grillo was backtracking because Marvel wasn’t pleased with his spoiler. We all know how Mark Ruffalo reacts in pretty much any situation where he reveals a spoiler: there’s the brief moment of panic, and then you ask if you can take back what you said. Just pretend like nothing ever happened.

So, what’s the truth here? We’ll have to take Grillo’s word when he says “sometimes I have fun [with] people who ask.” It might not be a very nice thing to do, especially considering how excited the host of the podcast was to hear that Crossbones was “returning.” But if he insists that the whole thing was just a joke, then so be it.

One thing that’s for certain about Avengers 4 is that we’ll be getting a trailer by the end of the year. And the movie will be out May 3, 2019. You might want to keep an eye out for Crossbones just in case.