Frank Grillo makes no bones about it: he is stoked to play Crossbones in "Captain America: Civil War."

After getting to introduce Marvel fans to the pre-psychotic break version of Brock Rumlow in "The Winter Soldier," wondering if and when he might don the skeleton-themed costume of one of Steve Rogers' most popular comic book bad guys, Grillo was thrilled to get the call from the Russo Brothers to suit up for Cap's third film.

Black Panther Unmasked in New "Captain America: Civil War" Photos

During a chat with Comic Book Resources about the upcoming second season of his MMA-themed DirecTV series "Kingdom," Grillo offered up some behind-the-scenes tidbits about finally going full supervillain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

CBR News: How cool was it to be able to finally put on the Crossbones outfit for "Civil War?"

Frank Grillo: Man, I've got to tell you, I'm not kidding -- I was doing a movie in Indonesia. They flew people to fit me, and I had no idea what it was going to look like, because it's a different look than the comic books. When I showed up on set, and my costume was in my trailer and I put it on, I felt an amazing responsibility. Like I'm going to get to create this thing, this villain. And it looks -- it's badass!

The stuff that I do in the movie, there's a lot of people in this movie -- it's not like the second movie, where it's really condensed. There's a lot of characters, so it's a big story. It's more "Avengers"-esque, in a sense. But when Crossbones is on screen, it's menacing. It's really menacing. I think people are really going to be happy.

That was my concern when I heard it was a bigger-picture story, that we'd lose a little of the threads of characters like Crossbones and the Winter Soldier, but that's all there?

It's there. It's definitely there. I wish he was in the movie more. Because of my time constraints with the show and dates and stuff, they had to kind of truncate it a little bit. But I really do wish I was in more, and I hope they continue to show Crossbones because it's too cool. It's so cool.

What about working in that bigger Marvel Universe, with so many more people at the party?

Oh, it's great. There was one day where it was just [Chris] Evans and I. And we were going through this great, big scene. We'd been doing it for days and days. I turn around, and I get a tap on the shoulder, and it's Downey. [Robert] Downey's standing there with Paul Rudd, who had just come off of doing some press. And who else? [Jeremy] Renner was on set. I was looking around going, "Look at this, man. These aren't just regular actors. I mean, this is big time." Everybody's involved in this thing, and I'm humbled by it, just to be a small part of it.

And we're closing in on a third "Purge" film.

Yeah. It's turned into a nice, little franchise. And the third movie, I think it's better than the second movie. I am a fan of that kind of '70s, really well done, B-action kind of movie, "Death Wish"-esque kind of thing. And the third one, James Damonico knocked it out of the park. I'm excited to go. Right when I'm finished with this, I go to Rhode Island and shoot that for six weeks. And then come back to Alvey [on "Kingdom"].

That worked out nicely.

Yeah, it did. And by the way, kudos to Endemol and DirecTV. They really had to thread a needle, these dates, so I was very happy about it.

Who are some of your favorite people to TV- or movie-fight with?

Evans, I've got to tell you, is up there. He's probably my favorite because he's a gamer. And Anthony Mackie. Really fun, because they don't pull their punches. You get in there, and you tangle it up, and it looks great, and it feels great. It's like being eight years old, and playing cowboys and Indians. That same kind of thing, those two guys.

You know when you do it in a Marvel movie, it's a big scale. They take a long time to figure it all out, so a lot of times, we're doing it on set. These guys are doing it all on set and making changes and stuff. And Marvel, you have the luxury of time and money. But that's why it looks so gritty and real.